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    NBA Season Preview: The Nets and the Lakers Are the Wild Cards

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    Even for a league used to drama and headlines, the N.B.A. had a dizzying off-season.There were trade requests (Kevin Durant) and trade rumors (Russell Westbrook); injuries (Chet Holmgren) and returns (Zion Williamson). The power structure of the Western Conference could be upended by the return of Kawhi Leonard with the Clippers; the power structure of the East is again unclear.And a series of scandals at Boston, Phoenix and Golden State could have lasting implications for the league.In short: A lot is going on.Headline More

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      For the Raptors, Scottie Barnes Can Do a Little Bit of Everything

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      Barnes is a finalist for the Rookie of the Year Award. But he has bigger aspirations than that, starting with winning a championship this year.When the Toronto Raptors selected forward Scottie Barnes with the fourth pick of the 2021 N.B.A. draft, some people in the basketball world raised their eyebrows. Jalen Suggs, considered one of the can’t-miss prospects, was still on the board.One regular season later, the Raptors look prescient. The 20-year-old Barnes is a top contender for the Rookie of the Year Award. He’s evoked comparisons to Vince Carter and Damon Stoudamire, the two Raptors who have been named rookie of the year.“I had actually never been to Toronto,” Barnes told The New York Times recently. “I never even thought of being in Toronto. It was just never a thought in my mind. It’s not as different as I thought it would be. The only thing that is different is just that weather, because I’m from Florida.”At his best, the 6-foot-9 Barnes is a versatile dynamo with a game similar to, but much less refined than, that of Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. This season, Barnes started all 74 of the games he played in, averaging 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on 49.2 percent shooting. In one blink, he can speed the ball up court as a quasi-point guard. In another, he attacks the rim for thunderous dunks. Raptors Coach Nick Nurse has often had Barnes defend top players, including Kevin Durant and Luka Doncic.Barnes said he wants to leave a legacy of being “a great all-around player.”Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated PressNow, he’s a key to Toronto’s hopes to win the championship. He fits the mold of the players who helped the Raptors win the franchise’s first title, in 2019, General Manager Bobby Webster said.“These really kind of versatile, long forwards that can do a bunch are just hard to come by,” he said. “And if they hit, they can be really valuable and productive players.”The question mark for Barnes is his long-range shooting. He hit just 30.1 percent of his 3-pointers during the regular season, and even that was an improvement on his lone year at Florida State University, where he shot 27.5 percent from 3.Barnes, who grew up in West Palm Beach, Fla., helped the Raptors claim the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference and a matchup with the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round of the playoffs. During Game 1 on Saturday, Barnes was given the task of trying to contain James Harden, but he left the game with an ankle injury and was out for Game 2 on Monday. Toronto missed Barnes’s defense and energy, and lost in a 112-97 blowout to fall to 0-2 in the series. Game 3 is Wednesday, and it’s not clear if Barnes will be able to play.In an interview with The Times before the playoffs, Barnes discussed the strong start to his career, his confidence level and his campaign for the Rookie of the Year Award.This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.It was considered pretty surprising at the time that the Raptors picked you at No. 4 in the draft. What ran through your head when your name was announced?Even throughout the whole predraft process, I really just went in with no expectation. Really, paying no mind. I really was just not worrying about things that I couldn’t control. So I really just went there and just was me wherever I went. So going into that when they said my name, I was just really excited, really happy. I didn’t really know what was going to happen, so I didn’t really have any expectation. So I was just a huge burst of excitement.Barnes has become known for his energy, off and on the court. He’s often tasked with the toughest defensive assignments.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press, via Associated PressWhat do you remember about your predraft conversations with Raptors president Masai Ujiri?He is a big person on winning. Just winning, winning, winning. So, me, I’m a big person on winning, too. So, really, it was just like, we just both really had a mutual mind.What’s been the hardest thing about jumping to the N.B.A. so far?Either traveling as much or just adjusting to, like, the refs and really how they call the game.When you have free time, what do you like to do?Just chill at the crib and play video games.What are you playing right now?Play NBA 2K. Call of Duty. Fortnite.When you play 2K, do you play as the Raptors?I don’t really play as teams. I usually play a create-a-player mode.What was your favorite moment of the regular season?So one of our favorite games played this year was probably with the Brooklyn Nets. K.D. [Kevin Durant] and James [Harden]. I think it was at their house, but we lost. But it was an interesting game. There was a lot of trash talk being involved. So it made it more fun. There was trash talking, and we were trash-talking back, and it was awesome. It was going down to the wire, going back and forth, back and forth. But I would say it was a great game.Barnes had 23 points and 12 points against the Nets in a game on Dec. 14. The Raptors lost by 2 points.Sarah Stier/Getty ImagesDo you trash-talk on the floor?Sometimes. Not as much, but only sometimes I will. But I won’t say so much out here.LeBron James said he watched you play in seventh grade. Did you know that until he said that recently?I don’t remember him saying it. It sounds great, but I know he watched me in 10th or ninth grade year when I played with Zaire — Dwyane Wade’s son. Him and Dwyane Wade were courtside watching our games. I hit a game-winner and I clapped him and D-Wade up. I was hype and I went to the sideline and sniped D-Wade and Bron’s hand after the game because I just hit a buzzer-beater. But to see those guys just say those things about me, it shows that people see that potential in me of what I can do.Were you one of the popular kids in school? What were you like?I was always an outgoing kid. Not saying I was so popular, but, you know, I had that core, that little swagger. I was very talkative, a kid with a lot of energy. So I would say I had a good amount of friends. I was always like one of those funny kids in class.There are a lot of comparisons between your impact as a rookie and Vince Carter’s and Damon Stoudamire’s. Have you ever spoken to Vince Carter at all?I actually did. I saw him at one of our games this year and I went up to him. I said, “What’s up?” We really couldn’t have that much conversation. I actually saw Damon Stoudamire at the mall in Boston, and we chatted it up for a little while. Went up to him. Recognized him. And I just started talking to him.What kind of impact are you hoping to leave in the league?In this league, I would say I want to, of course, win rookie of the year this year. Be on the All-Defensive team, multiple times. Be a future M.V.P. Be a finals M.V.P. Be a finals N.B.A. champion multiple times. Of course, be a multiple-time All-Star. Really, just leave that legacy. that I was just a great all-around player.Is there something that makes you rookie of the year over the other candidates?Really just doing so many different types of things, and being that versatile player that’s just having a big impact on our team really winning basketball games. More

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      The Sixers Get a Win, but Not a Chance to Exhale

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      The Game 1 victory over the Raptors won’t ease the pressure on Joel Embiid and James Harden, who have played well but come up short in the end before.PHILADELPHIA — There was a nervous energy throughout the Wells Fargo Center on Saturday evening as the Philadelphia 76ers prepared to play Game 1 of their first-round playoff series against the Toronto Raptors.The Sixers have star power that should overwhelm most other teams, but their stars have had trouble in the playoffs before. Joel Embiid, who led the N.B.A. in points per game during the regular season, has never been past the second round of the playoffs. James Harden, who won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in 2017-18, has not been past the conference finals since he reached the N.B.A. finals with the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012.Did fans in the building dare hope that this team could win the franchise’s first championship since 1983?Could Harden and Embiid come together quickly enough, despite having played only 21 regular-season games together?The 76ers beat the Raptors, 131-111, avoiding the pitfalls that have ensnared them before against Toronto. They outrebounded the Raptors. They committed just one turnover in the game’s first 44 minutes. Game 1 offered hope.The Sixers had a muted response to their Game 1 victory against the Raptors: “It’s only one game,” Joel Embiid said.Chris Szagola/Associated PressBut hope has its limits. If they are to prove that this group can succeed where past versions failed, the 76ers must build on Saturday night’s performance. The pressure on Embiid and Harden did not dissipate with the win.“It’s only one game,” Embiid said, repeatedly, during his postgame news conference.Embiid scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Harden scored 22 points and had 14 assists. But the real star of the game for the 76ers was Tyrese Maxey, who scored 38 points, making 14 of his 21 shot attempts.Late in the third quarter, Harden saw Maxey beating the Raptors down the court and grabbed the ball with both hands to throw Maxey a perfectly placed bounce pass that went nearly three-quarters the length of the court. Maxey caught it and scored with a reverse layup.That play offered an example of the 21-year-old guard’s value to Philadelphia.“He’s like the perfect player,” Harden said before commending Maxey’s ability to take advantage of times when he and Embiid drew multiple defenders.Maxey couldn’t stop smiling as he checked out for the last time. He sat on the bench with the scoreboard camera fixed on him as the crowd chanted his name over and over. After the game, though, he didn’t bask in the adulation.“The only thing I’m going to remember is us winning,” Maxey said. “That’s all that matters at this point. Now this is in my rearview mirror.”The crowd erupted with what felt like a mixture of joy and relief — Philadelphia’s performance eased the tension in the building. But there remained an acute awareness that winning Game 1 does not mean you will win the series.Harden knows what it is like to lose a series after winning its first game. In fact, it’s happened to him in the past two seasons. Last year, his Nets won Game 1 of a second-round series against Milwaukee before losing the series in seven games. Two years ago, his Rockets won Game 1 of a second-round series against the Lakers before losing the next four games.Fair or not, this postseason will be the start of a referendum on the team that has been assembled in Philadelphia.The Sixers replaced Ben Simmons, who was the first overall pick in the 2016 draft, with Harden in a trade in February.Immediately after the trade, the 76ers started beating up on their opponents. They won the first game Harden played for them, beating the Minnesota Timberwolves by 31 points. Harden scored 27, and when he was in the game, the 76ers outscored the Timberwolves.Philadelphia’s hiccups since Harden’s arrival, though, have been concerning. The Sixers lost to the Nets by 29 points in the first game between the teams since the trade. They lost twice to the Raptors in the final month of the season.Simmons has not played for the Nets yet, but one could argue that the Nets are better poised to make a run in the playoffs than Philadelphia, despite being the seventh seed in the East, because of Kyrie Irving and the transcendent talent of Kevin Durant.Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey was the game’s leading scorer with 38 points. The 21-year-old is in his second N.B.A. season.Chris Szagola/Associated PressHarden was not particularly efficient against the Raptors on Saturday. He made 6 of 17 shots and only 2 of 10 2-pointers. He made his impact in assisting his teammates.“I don’t think we’ve seen really what he can do,” Embiid said. “But he was comfortable tonight: made the right plays, found guys, went to the line a couple times even though they weren’t calling all his fouls for him. But it was good to see him aggressive.”Coach Doc Rivers agreed that Harden seemed comfortable in the offense.“You could tell. You could see it out there,” Rivers said. “He called plays himself.”Rivers attributed that in part to his decision to simplify the team’s playbook and focus on the few plays he knew they could run well.Maxey’s contributions were also critical to their plan. He sat on the podium next to Harden Saturday night and revealed a mischievous grin as Harden spoke about his postseason experiences.“I’ve been in the playoffs 13 years,” Harden said.Maxey interjected to call him old.“Sorry,” Maxey said, as if he were a child caught misbehaving, before looking away and then smiling at the 32-year-old Harden again.“I just wanted to play well,” Harden said. “I wanted to individually make sure I’m doing the right things, do what’s necessary for our team to win. Tonight I feel like individually I had an OK game, but that’s what you got a great team for.”For Game 1 the 76ers got what they needed, but there’s no guarantee that the same formula will be enough as the playoffs progress — or even as this series moves to Game 2 on Monday. More

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      NBA Says It Will ‘Follow the Science’ as Coronavirus Cases Rise

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      Outbreaks and exposures on multiple teams led the league this week to postpone games for the first time this season, with a series of marquee matchups looming.For the first couple of months of the N.B.A. season, the league operated with something that approximated business as usual: full arenas and full rosters as teams adapted to the new normal of playing through the coronavirus pandemic.But amid a recent surge of players and coaches who have landed in the N.B.A.’s Covid-19 health and safety protocols, the league finds itself contending with some familiar challenges and concerns.Positive tests. Canceled practices. And the looming possibility of more postponed games, just as the N.B.A. approaches what some fans consider its real opening day: a five-game slate on Christmas Day.On Tuesday, the Nets announced that six more players, including James Harden, had joined Paul Millsap in the protocols, meaning they had tested positive for the coronavirus or had been in close contact with someone who had. That left the Nets with a very short rotation for their home game against the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night. The Los Angeles Lakers, meanwhile, canceled their practice after Talen Horton-Tucker entered the protocols ahead of the team’s flight to Dallas for a game against the Mavericks on Wednesday.Once in the protocols, players cannot return to play until they have isolated for 10 days or returned two negative test results at least 24 hours apart.Those developments came one day after the league announced that it was postponing a pair of Chicago Bulls games this week after 10 of the team’s players, as well as other staff members, landed in the protocols. Those two games — against the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday and the Raptors on Thursday — were the league’s first postponements of the season.“Like the rest of the country, and as was predicted by our infectious disease specialists, we have seen an increase of cases around the league,” said Mike Bass, an N.B.A. spokesman. “As we have since the pandemic began in March 2020, we will continue to follow the science and data, and will, in close partnership with the players’ association, update our protocols as deemed appropriate by our medical experts.”All of the Bulls’ players have been vaccinated, according to two league sources who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the players’ vaccination statuses.The league has said that more than 97 percent of its players are fully vaccinated, and that more than 60 percent of those eligible have received booster shots. The players’ union did not agree to a vaccine mandate before the start of the season. A few players, such as the Nets’ Kyrie Irving and Washington’s Bradley Beal, have spoken out about not wanting to get vaccinated.Last season, the league and the players’ union reported more than 75 positive tests among players, most of them before vaccines were widely available. More than 30 games were postponed.Given the possibility that players might have been exposed to the virus during Thanksgiving gatherings this year, the league and union agreed to institute mandatory testing on Nov. 28, 29 and 30. Before then, vaccinated players were being tested only if they exhibited symptoms or had been around someone who had tested positive.CJ McCollum, the president of the players’ union, told The New York Times recently that he was encouraging players to get vaccines and booster shots, and that he doesn’t allow unvaccinated people into his home. Extra testing, he said, “just makes sense.”The Coronavirus Pandemic: Key Things to KnowCard 1 of 5Pfizer’s Covid pill. More

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      Knicks Fall to Raptors Amid Flurry of 3-Pointers

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      A devotion to long-distance shots has changed the Knicks’ approach and their results. But is trading 3s for 3s a winning strategy?Near the end of the first quarter on Monday, Julius Randle, the Knicks’ burly All-Star forward, pulled up and banked in a shot from 25 feet. It was the kind of shot that might have sent him to the bench in a previous era of basketball, or even on a previous Tom Thibodeau-coached team. On Monday, it was Randle’s fourth 3-pointer in 12 minutes.It was also a shot emblematic of the new-look Knicks: This year’s version is taking 3-pointers. Lots of them. In the first quarter alone against the Toronto Raptors on Monday, 13 of the Knicks’ 19 shots — and five of Randle’s — were from behind the 3-point line. The approach has been a hallmark of the new Bing Bong-era of the Knicks, and it is part of the reason Thibodeau’s team is off to a 5-2 start, the franchise’s best since the 2012-13 season.In their second game, the Knicks set a team record for most 3-pointers in a game with 24, en route to a 121-96 victory. This year, the Knicks are taking 40.6 deep shots per game; that is good for eighth in the league and is 10 more per game than last season, when the Knicks ranked near the bottom of the league in attempts.“With the 3, you can make up ground quickly,” Thibodeau said. Or not. On Monday, the Knicks tried 36 of them, made less than half and absorbed their second defeat of the season, a 114-103 loss to the Raptors.While the Knicks didn’t try as many 3s last season, they were accurate in the few they shot: 39.2 percent over all, good for third in the N.B.A. This year, they are near the top in accuracy again, only with more volume. At their current rate, the Knicks are on track to have a top-five offense for the first time since that 2012-13 team.The Knicks have also picked up their pace, if only slightly. Last season, the Knicks were dead last in fast break points. This year, they are 22nd.“I think this is the fastest I’ve seen them play for a long time,” Toronto Coach Nick Nurse said before Monday’s game.The early positive returns on the Knicks season are the clearest indication that Thibodeau — a coach known for stubborn adherence to his brand of physical basketball — is capable of adjusting to the new realities of the modern N.B.A. He has reinvented the team’s offensive identity with a simple mantra.“Drive the ball, get your spacing, make your rim read — keep the game simple,” Thibodeau told reporters on Monday, adding, “When we do that, we’re really good.”Still, the transition to a more 3-pointer-heavy offense wasn’t simply a case of telling the team to shoot more of them.Thibodeau received a significant assist — or by some interpretations, had his hand forced — by a shift in personnel. Last season, the Knicks’ starting point guard was Elfrid Payton, a nonshooter whom opposing defenses would often ignore on the perimeter, clogging the paint for Randle and leaving him more susceptible to double teams. This year, Kemba Walker has occupied that spot, and he entered Monday night shooting an almost assuredly unsustainable 57.9 percent on 3-pointers.It is not just having better shooters. Walker and Evan Fournier are superior ballhandlers, and their arrival, along with the improved RJ Barrett, allows the Knicks to more easily break down defenses and create open opportunities on the outside.The Knicks’ ability to stop 3-pointers remains a work in progress. Working inside and outside, Toronto’s OG Anunoby scored 36 points on Monday night.Frank Franklin II/Associated PressHaving a healthy Mitchell Robinson in the starting lineup has been a boost as well. At 7 feet, Robinson draws attention at the rim as one of the Knicks’ best alley-oop threats at the basket. That gives the Knicks more space on the perimeter to create open looks.If there is a worrisome sign, it is on the defensive end, where the Knicks have been below average — something highly unusual for a Thibodeau-coached team. While the Knicks have been taking a lot of 3s, they also give up a lot — more than all but two teams in the N.B.A.Their new acquisitions — Walker and Fournier — aren’t known for their defense. On Tuesday, the Knicks surrendered looks — and points — on the inside and outside to Raptors forward OG Anunoby, who scored 36 points. While Toronto made only 14 of its 42 3-point shots, it was enough to pad a double-digit lead in the second half.Seven games isn’t a huge sample size. Inevitably, some shooting numbers, like Walker’s, will return to earth. But the new-look Knicks, with a sleek, contemporary offense, seem to have the personnel to merit their early optimism. More

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      After 600 Days, the Raptors Finally Came Home

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      The Raptors had been separated from their home fans in Toronto since early 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic.

      Strict travel restrictions between the United States and Canada forced the team to play its home games and practice in Tampa, Fla., last season.

      On Wednesday night, they opened their season at home in Toronto — 600 days after their last regular-season home game. More

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      Kyle Lowry Is Ready to Have His Say, On and Off the Court

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      MIAMI — For a long while, the scowl on Kyle Lowry’s face seemed permanently etched. He used that edginess to rise from meager beginnings in Philadelphia as he scraped for stability early in his N.B.A. career.“I knew I was good,” Lowry said during breakfast at a hotel here. “I knew I was a starter. But I still had to prove it. I still had the chip on my shoulder. I still had to do this, that and the other. And I still play like that.”That determination blossomed in Toronto, where Lowry, 35, provided a foundational steadiness across nine seasons, six All-Star berths and a championship in 2019. But all that came only after he fought for court time and was traded from Memphis, which drafted him in 2006, and then Houston during his first six years in the league.The stage is now set for Lowry to begin the final arc of his playing career with the Miami Heat, who hope that the addition of a veteran point guard with a championship pedigree will launch them back into contention for a title. The Heat journeyed all the way to the N.B.A. finals in the pandemic-paused 2019-20 season, but last season were quickly dispatched by the Milwaukee Bucks.In the off-season, Lowry signed a three-year contract with Miami worth nearly $90 million, joining a retooled team intent on making Milwaukee’s tenure atop the Eastern Conference a brief stay. Lowry was a prized free-agent target after a midcareer span that made him synonymous with the Raptors.“We all were mutually agreed that it was time,” Lowry said of leaving Toronto. “It’s hard to put it into words. It was just time. For me, I knew with Miami it was the right situation, right timing, right place, right people, right everything.”His journey in Toronto started with questions — he was the team’s backup plan after a failed attempt at landing Steve Nash — crested with a championship and ended in a season no one could have anticipated.Lowry was criticized for poor shooting early in the 2019 finals against Golden State but responded with a clutch performance in the championship-clinching victory in Game 6.Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press, via Associated PressThe coronavirus pandemic forced the Raptors to relocate to Tampa, Fla., for their home games in 2020-21. Toronto righted itself after a shaky beginning, only for the season to unravel when Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and others missed time because of virus protocols.“The city of Tampa was great,” Lowry said. “It was just difficult because we didn’t know what to expect day by day. We were in fifth place, fourth place. We hit a Covid stretch and then it was over.”Speculation swirled over whether the franchise would deal Lowry, who was on a one-year contract. The Heat, among other teams, made inquiries about acquiring him before the March trade deadline.Lowry had pledged to his teammates before the season that he intended to help them compete for another championship. The team’s dismal record made such a foray unlikely, but Lowry wanted to stay true to his word in seeing the season through.The adage of sports being a business is a truism. Every so often, the reality becomes murkier.In 2018, the Raptors and Masai Ujiri, the team’s president, traded DeMar DeRozan, a franchise cornerstone who, along with Lowry, had brought respectability and competitiveness to the organization and was beloved in the city.Toronto acquired Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs in the trade, immediately won a championship and frayed its relationship with DeRozan. It avoided a potential similar fracturing with Lowry.“Sometimes franchises have to do what’s best for them, but I was in a position where I had say and I had a little bit, I wouldn’t say power — but I had a little bit of, ‘Listen, it’s not going to be a good look if we don’t collaborate on this together,’” Lowry said. “We all agreed that to be on the same page was the best thing to do, and that was that.“With DeMar not having the autonomy of having a decision, I think it was just such a different circumstance. It prepared them to not do that to me.”Lowry finished the season in Toronto and landed with the Heat, anyway. “It’s been really tough for us to see an incredible player like that go,” Ujiri said at a news conference in August. “We knew this was coming. The direction of our team was kind of going younger and Kyle still has these incredible goals.”Saul Martinez for The New York Times “It was just time. For me, I knew with Miami it was the right situation, right timing, right place, right people, right everything.”Lowry is one of several point guards, including Chris Paul and Mike Conley, who are still flexing impactful games in their mid-30s, a quality Lowry attributes to better modern knowledge about dieting and training.“I’ve never been super athletic,” Lowry said with a laugh. “I can dunk and all that, but I still play low to the ground. I’m not explosive. And I know how to not jump when I don’t need to be jumping.”Lowry saw a role for himself with the Heat, a franchise eager for another championship. He had established a relationship with Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra while playing for him at an N.B.A. Africa exhibition in South Africa in 2017. Tampering investigations concerning Lowry’s sign-and-trade deal to the Heat, along with the one that allowed Lonzo Ball to join the Chicago Bulls, are ongoing, N.B.A. Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters this week.In Miami, Jimmy Butler is Lowry’s primary wing mate after he spent years alongside DeRozan — “Smooth,” Lowry said of DeRozan. “That’s my best friend.”And of Leonard: “A machine,” Lowry said. “He gets it done.”DeRozan and Leonard are two of the game’s quieter personalities. Butler, though, is a force, both vocally and on the court. Lowry said Butler often communicates through strings of expletives.“I partly think it’s to get him going, because he’s got to get himself going somehow some way, which is dope,” Lowry said, adding that “some people can’t take it” and think Butler’s a jerk.“Nah, it’s just how he is,” Lowry said. “Everybody has different demands on themselves.”Butler recently told reporters that the team was adjusting to how quickly Lowry got the ball upcourt.“He’s always looking to pitch the ball ahead and get guys in the right spot,” Butler said. “It’s incredible. It’s a blessing, and sometimes it’s a curse because you’ve got to be in some really great shape if you’re out there in what we call the Kyle chaos.”Lowry during a preseason game with the Heat.Lynne Sladky/Associated PressOne day, Lowry expects to retire as a Raptor. Until then, he expects his former teammates to grow into the roles he and DeRozan once occupied. Lowry, for example, faced criticism for missing shots during the first few games of the 2019 finals. He responded with 26 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds in the Game 6 championship-clinching victory.“Freddy, OG, Pascal, now they have to take the interviews, and they have to do all the media. Because I’m the guy who was like, ‘Yo, it’s on me,’” he said, adding: “They have to take the criticism, and that’s what’s going to help them grow. I want them to be the All-Stars. I want them to be the champions again. I want them to get opportunities to create generational wealth.”Lowry’s maturity has continued away from the court. He once fell into the financial trap of securing a loan before his first professional game.“If I could do it again, I would’ve lived in North Philly with my mom and my grandma until I got an actual paycheck, because then you’re just paying money back,” Lowry said.Among other pursuits, Lowry has made strides in venture capital and investments in real estate and private equity.“I started to get outside of who I was, of being hard-nosed, and I started letting people in and introducing myself,” Lowry said. “My main source of income is basketball, but I have other interests and I have people around me that are doing very well. Why not have conversations and learn about things? Because when you do retire, you have to transition. Whenever that time comes, hopefully not for a long, long time, I’ll be making decisions on running the companies.”The scowl is erased. The chip on the shoulder remains. The chase for Lowry, on and off the court, continues.“You’re happy, but what’s next?” Lowry said. “How do you get another transition? How do you evolve? How do you continue to get better?” More

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      N.B.A. Eastern Conference Preview: The Bucks Aren't Finished Yet

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      The Bucks might be better, while the Sixers and Nets are playing wait-and-see with key stars. The Eastern Conference could play out in several ways.Here lie the N.B.A.’s most compelling story lines.Potential contenders in the Eastern Conference scrambled during the off-season to assemble teams fit to knock off Giannis Antetokounmpo — now with a new, improved jump shot? — and the reigning N.B.A. champion Milwaukee Bucks. Even the conference’s perennial bottom feeders built rosters that will demand attention from basketball devotees. Some teams are just hoping that distractions don’t derail their seasons before they start.Many wonder how the Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia will end. The 76ers seemed locked in a stalemate with Simmons, a three-time All-Star, who has wanted to be traded for months. Simmons ended his holdout midway through the preseason and reported to the team but has not played. The 76ers have said they want him on their roster, but if they persuade him to stay, can they really go forward with business as usual?Meanwhile, the Nets have a bona fide championship roster. They know this, and even with the distraction of Kyrie Irving’s murky status because he’s not vaccinated, they expect to hoist the Larry O’Brien championship trophy at season’s end.Could the N.B.A.’s balance of power, which has long rested in the West, be shifting to the East? Here’s a look at how the Eastern Conference shapes up this season.Miami HeatIn some ways, it seems so long ago. But little more than a year has passed since the Heat plowed their way to the 2020 finals before losing to the Los Angeles Lakers. Was it a fluke, aided by playing under the unusual conditions of a bubble environment, with no fans? The Heat were up and down last season before the Milwaukee Bucks ejected them from the 2021 playoffs in a lopsided first-round series.Jimmy Butler needs to be efficient. Duncan Robinson needs to be consistent. Tyler Herro needs to recapture his assertiveness. And Bam Adebayo needs to keep making the sort of strides that have pushed him toward becoming a perennial All-Star.The team should benefit from two additions: Kyle Lowry, who at 35 left the Raptors after nine seasons, and P.J. Tucker, who helped the Bucks win the championship last season.Philadelphia 76ersThe Sixers don’t need Ben Simmons to be competitive (they do have Joel Embiid, pictured), but they are better with him.Matt Slocum/Associated PressBen Simmons is, for now, back in the City of Brotherly Love.Simmons, who reportedly demanded a trade in late August and missed training camp, reported to the 76ers ahead of their third preseason game but did not play. Simmons’s future in Philadelphia remains unclear, though. He still has four years left on his maximum contract.With or without him, Philadelphia is antsy to win now. Joel Embiid is coming off the best season of his career, when he finished second in the voting for the Most Valuable Player Award. The 76ers were the No. 1 seed in last season’s Eastern Conference playoffs but collapsed in the semifinals, continuing their inability to turn regular-season wins into deep postseason success.Philadelphia is a better team with Simmons, 25, despite his offensive shortcomings. But even if he doesn’t play anytime soon, Embiid, Seth Curry, Danny Green and Tobias Harris should be experienced enough to keep the Sixers in contention.New York KnicksThe Knicks doubled down on last season’s roster, which unexpectedly made the playoffs then flamed out — albeit after a brilliant flare — in the first round. The veterans Derrick Rose and Taj Gibson are back, but Elfrid Payton, who triggered an influx of gray hairs for fans, is not. The additions of Evan Fournier and Kemba Walker are significant, and should help take the offensive load off RJ Barrett and Julius Randle, who signed a four-year contract extension in the off-season.This feels like a make-or-break year for the 23-year-old Mitchell Robinson, the center who is up for an extension and can jump through the roof. At his best, he protects the rim and is an excellent roll man. But he has had difficulty staying healthy. Look for bigger roles for Immanuel Quickley and Obi Toppin, who each showed promise off the bench as rookies last season.The Knicks should easily make the playoffs, but their bench depth is a question mark.Milwaukee BucksThe Bucks kept the band together. Same coach. Same star. Same core — mostly. And why not? Fresh off their first championship since 1971, the Bucks seem poised for a title defense.The challenge could be fatigue. Because of the pandemic, their postseason run stretched into July, and two starters — Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday — helped the U.S. Olympic team win gold in August. The Bucks also lost P.J. Tucker, invaluable in the late stages of last season, to the Heat in free agency.But Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time M.V.P., is still the face of the franchise and the proud owner of a newly minted championship ring. And he may be better than ever, showing off an improved jump shot in the preseason. With a contract that runs through the 2025-26 season, he is not going anywhere anytime soon.Atlanta HawksAtlanta guard Trae Young led the Hawks on a surprising run through the first two rounds of the playoffs last season.Brett Davis/USA Today Sports, via ReutersAfter a surprising run to the Eastern Conference finals last year, the Hawks enter the season with the burden of expectations and the benefit of continuity. This team is deep and should compete to be one of the best in the East.Most of the key players are back. The Hawks locked in their two best players, Trae Young and John Collins, with long-term extensions. Coach Nate McMillan will be running the team from opening night, as opposed to being thrust into the job midseason as he was during the last campaign after Lloyd Pierce was fired.Atlanta almost pulled off a miracle run to the N.B.A. finals last season, after taking down the Knicks and the Philadelphia 76ers, but were bedeviled by injuries against the eventual champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. Players who were unavailable or not 100 percent, like De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish and Bogdan Bogdanovic, are expected to start the season with clean bills of health. The Hawks also added some quality veteran bench pieces in Gorgui Dieng and Delon Wright, and an intriguing rookie they drafted late in this year’s first round, Jalen Johnson.Charlotte HornetsLaMelo Ball, last season’s rookie of the year, highlights Charlotte’s promising young core. He’ll likely be the Hornets’ primary facilitator and already has great court vision and playmaking ability, and he is continuing to improve his jump shot.Ball and forward Miles Bridges in the pick-and-roll were elite last season, with Bridges’s power at the basket and Ball’s precise lob placement on display. That pairing should only be better this season.The Hornets already had solid veterans in Terry Rozier and Gordon Hayward, and they added Kelly Oubre Jr. and Mason Plumlee. Oubre is an inconsistent shooter, but could be impactful in transition. Plumlee is a versatile big man.This group won’t be knocking at the door of the N.B.A. finals this season, but the Hornets will be a fun team to watch, and have a real chance at a playoff berth.Brooklyn NetsWith the addition of Patty Mills and Paul Millsap, as well as the return of Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge, the Nets, on paper, are one of the best teams in N.B.A. history. In normal circumstances, they would be title favorites, given their Big Three of Kyrie Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant. But that was the case last year too, and the Nets bowed out in the second round of the playoffs.Health will be the principle factor for determining how far the Nets go. All of the Nets’ top players have significant miles on their legs and have missed substantial time in recent years.If there is a potentially weak point for other teams to exploit, it is defensively, where the Nets struggled last season, and their off-season additions didn’t seriously address that. This could come back to bite them in the postseason, particularly in the frontcourt against players like Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, who scored at will during last year’s playoffs, or Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid.But the offensive firepower is top notch. It’s hard to see the Nets being beaten in a seven-game series if they’re healthy.Chicago BullsDeMar DeRozan gives the new-look Chicago Bulls a threat from the mid-range.Kamil Krzaczynski/USA Today Sports, via ReutersChicago could be a sneaky-good team this season.Arturas Karnisovas, the Bulls’ executive vice president of basketball operations, voiced displeasure with the team’s 31-41 record shortly after last season. Since then, he’s added DeMar DeRozan, Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso and Tony Bradley to a roster with Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic, whom Chicago acquired from Orlando at the March trade deadline.DeRozan is lethal in the midrange, but some have questioned how he’ll fit with LaVine, as both players are most effective with the ball in their hands. Chicago will have an upgrade at point guard with Ball, who is a deft passer. And Caruso will add a rugged spark off the bench. Coach Billy Donovan will have to figure out how they all fit on the court.In any event, Michael Jordan said that with the changes the Bulls made, they could compete in the East. How long has it been since those words were last spoken?Toronto RaptorsIt’s a new era in Toronto basketball. Kyle Lowry, perhaps the most lauded Raptor in franchise history, has gone to Miami. Without him, the Raptors are likely stuck between being too talented to get a top draft pick and not being so good that they’ll contend for a top seed in the conference.But there may be an opening for Toronto in the turbulent East: Scottie Barnes, whom the team surprisingly drafted at No. 4 this year, showed potential in the preseason. And the Raptors’ frontcourt, helmed by Chris Boucher and the newly acquired Precious Achiuwa, will be a force.There are lots of questions for the Raptors entering the season: Is Pascal Siakam, who is expected to miss the start of the season as he recovers from shoulder surgery, a true franchise cornerstone? Will Lowry’s replacement at guard, the 35-year-old Goran Dragic, last the season in Toronto? Or will Masai Ujiri, the Raptors head of basketball operations, flip Dragic’s expiring contract?Detroit PistonsYou’d be hard pressed to find any Pistons fans who haven’t already crowned the rookie guard Cade Cunningham as their Magic Johnson. Johnson, of course, won an N.B.A. title as a rookie after the Lakers drafted him No. 1 overall in 1979.Detroit drafted Cunningham, a savvy scorer and shot creator, No. 1 overall earlier this year to hopefully lift itself out of years of irrelevancy. An ankle injury sidelined him in the preseason, and the team is being cautious.Detroit’s young group showed promise last season, despite finishing with the worst record in the East, but the Pistons are another team in rebuilding mode. Coach Dwane Casey has said that this season’s goal is to earn a spot in the postseason play-in tournament.Cleveland CavaliersOnly someone like LeBron James could render an entire franchise into an afterthought. But that was what he effectively did when he departed the Cavaliers for the glamour of Hollywood in 2018, leaving them to rummage through the wilderness without him. The Cavaliers instantly went from title contender to lightweight, though the team has some up-and-comers — highlighted by Collin Sexton and Darius Garland in the backcourt — who are cause for cautious optimism.None of this is to suggest that the Cavaliers will come anywhere close to sniffing the playoffs. But a slow, steady rebuild — augmented by smart draft picks — is the way back to respectability. And there is more good news: Kevin Love (remember him?) has just two seasons remaining on his gargantuan deal, which could make him a more appealing target on the trade market.Boston CelticsJayson Tatum has shown promise with Boston, but postseason success has so far eluded him.Jasen Vinlove/USA Today Sports, via ReutersFrom the start of training camp, Ime Udoka, the Celtics’ first-year coach, has had a particular emphasis: ball movement. He does not want the ball to stick. He wants his players to work together to generate the best shots.This must have been welcome news to fans who got tired of watching the Celtics’ offense devolve into isolation sets last season. Jayson Tatum, 23, and Jaylen Brown, who will turn 25 this month, form one of the most talented young tandems in the league, but fulfilling their promise in the postseason has so far eluded them.Perhaps Udoka can help them deliver. He replaced Brad Stevens, who moved to the front office after a posting .500 record and losing in the first round of the playoffs in his eighth season as the team’s coach.Washington WizardsWes Unseld Jr., Washington’s new head coach, has a tall task ahead of him.The Wizards are not a championship-caliber team, even after adding solid veterans like Spencer Dinwiddie, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma and Montrezl Harrell. So this season will be mostly about persuading Bradley Beal, who can become a free agent next summer, to make a long-term commitment to the franchise.It’s hard to win without multiple elite playmakers, and the Wizards have just one in Beal after trading Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers. But even in a yet another bridge year, the Wizards should, at the very least, have a playoff team. They’ll have the promising center Thomas Bryant back from injury, and the team can hope for some growth from its last two lottery picks, Deni Avdija (2020) and Rui Hachimura (2019).Orlando MagicThe Magic have a young team with a first-year head coach in Jamahl Mosley. They’ve made just two playoff appearances in the past nine seasons, and traded away their best players, Aaron Gordon and Nikola Vucevic, in the middle of last season. Then they landed Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs at No. 5 in this year’s draft.Suggs joined a roster that is crowded at guard, with Markelle Fultz, who will return from a knee injury, RJ Hampton, Terrence Ross, Cole Anthony and Gary Harris. Suggs probably has the highest ceiling of those players, though, and he was solid in the summer league before injuring his thumb.The Magic will not be legitimate contenders for a while, so they have plenty of time to sort out their roster.Indiana PacersRick Carlisle, back for his second stint with the Pacers, is the team’s third coach in three seasons. Indiana could use some stability to help develop a young core that includes Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis, already a two-time All-Star at 25.But the Pacers, who have not advanced past the first round of the playoffs since 2014, are coming off a 34-38 season, and Caris LeVert is out indefinitely with a stress fracture in his back.Carlisle coached the Pacers for four seasons, from 2003 to 2007, while guiding them to three postseason appearances. It will take some hard work to get them there again. More

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      Pascal Siakam Wants to Stay With Toronto Raptors

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      In the fall of 2019, Pascal Siakam was riding high. He had just finished his third N.B.A. season and was well on his way to becoming basketball royalty in Canada, having just helped lead the Toronto Raptors to their first championship, alongside Kyle Lowry and Kawhi Leonard. Siakam was awarded a maximum contract extension, which gave him the status — at least financially — reserved for stars. He rewarded that faith from the Raptors by making his first career All-Star team that season.This was an unexpected rise for Siakam, a Cameroon native who only picked up basketball at age 17 and spent two years at New Mexico State University before the Raptors selected him late in the first round of the 2016 draft.Now, Siakam, 27, is facing questions about whether he can truly be a long-term cornerstone in Toronto. Last season, he struggled. The Raptors, who so recently had been top contenders, were one of the worst teams in the N.B.A., playing home games in Florida because of pandemic travel restrictions. Siakam’s play was well below a level expected of a star. To make matters worse, Siakam contracted Covid-19, causing him to lose 20 pounds. And then there was a postgame blowup with Coach Nick Nurse in March borne out of Siakam’s frustration with losing.While Siakam’s play picked up in the last months of the regular season, he suffered a left shoulder injury that required surgery and ended his season in May. He is expected to miss the start of the 2021-22 season.“I never had surgery before,” Siakam said in a recent interview. “I’m from Africa; I mean, if anything, my mom would try to give me some home remedy or something that can cure anything.”Trade rumors have circled Siakam, but Masai Ujiri, who runs basketball operations for the Raptors, has downplayed trade talk publicly, as has Siakam’s agent, Todd Ramasar. In a conversation from Los Angeles, where he is rehabbing his injury, Siakam said he wants to stay in Toronto long-term, but admitted that after receiving the contract extension, he had some frustrations with Toronto’s front office. He also discussed his rehab, his relationship with the Raptors and Lowry’s departure to the Miami Heat.As he works his way back from surgery, Pascal Siakam has been training at Toyota Center with Earl Watson, an assistant coach for the Toronto Raptors.Jessica Lehrman for The New York TimesHow is rehab going?I was expecting it to be worse, but it wasn’t as bad as I thought. I would say just, I think the first two weeks or three weeks was the worst, just because I couldn’t sleep. I have to find a position to get comfortable. I had to sleep on the couch for two weeks because I couldn’t sleep on the bed. I’m a side sleeper. So I couldn’t do that.Are you even shooting or doing anything basketball-wise?Yes. I’m shooting, ball handling. I think at this point in the process I look better than I thought I was expecting at least or I’m doing more than I thought I would do at that time.I was about to challenge you to one-on-one, but I won’t.Definitely not right now. I don’t think I can beat anybody one-on-one right now.Were you surprised that Kyle Lowry left for Miami?I wouldn’t say I was surprised by it because obviously I could see it coming. When I was a rookie, these were the people that we look up to, right? It was Kyle. It was DeMar [DeRozan]. Kyle was like our big brother. We looked up to him and DeMar. So it was weird, obviously, to see them go. Sometimes, I’ll be thinking, “OK, Kyle is not here anymore, right?” You don’t really put it in perspective. Some of the questions obviously about what the team wants to do and things like that, they ask you. And before you felt like all those questions, I didn’t really have to answer them, because I felt like Kyle was there and now he’s not there.Have you guys talked since he left?We talk. We texted.Obviously, it’s all love. He was just telling me: “This is your team. You know, I love you. Everything that we went through.” And: “Go ahead and do it. I’ll be watching out and see it.” And I think the same thing even for me. Honestly, he’s a legend, a Toronto legend. For me, [I said] “Hey, good luck out there. I’ll kick your butt when I see you.”For the first time in his N.B.A. career, Siakam will be playing without Kyle Lowry, who left for Miami. “Kyle was like our big brother,” Siakam said.Chris O’Meara/Associated PressWhat do you think the 17-year-old version of you would say to the 27-year-old version of you?Yeah, it’s impossible. At that point in time, I wasn’t really thinking that I was going to make it to the N.B.A. and I was going to be this big. That I was going to be at this level, win a championship. I could never even get myself to dream about those things. One, because obviously, basketball wasn’t my first choice. And then secondly, I just couldn’t see myself doing those things. Because I was going to business school and I planned to go to college for business in Cameroon.With Kyle gone, obviously now you’re even more of the guy now. Your agent says you’re happy in Toronto. Masai Ujiri, the team president, said your relationship is pretty healthy with the organization. How would you characterize it?I think it’s growing, obviously. Because I just think that for me, I feel the love. Obviously, Masai, we go way back and I’ll always have a ton of respect for Masai and everything that he’s done for the continent [Africa].For me at that point when I started becoming that person, I just felt like there wasn’t that much level of communication, to be honest. And that was the only thing really that I felt. It was like, “We got you the max contract, but are you the guy?” I think that’s something that I was struggling with.What do you mean by that?Obviously, Kyle was there, being a point guard. Kyle was, to me, always the greatest Raptor of all time. I think he was always like, “I was the guy.” I had the contract, but I never really felt like I was the guy, to be honest.You wanted them to say, “You know, here’s the max contract. You’re the guy. You’re the centerpiece that’s going to take us to the repeat championship.”Yeah. I never really felt like there was that. And I think those conversations are happening now.Trade rumors are part of the business. But there must be a part of you after this season that said, “Whoa, I won a championship for you guys. I became an All-Star.” Is there a human side of you that is like, “Man, that’s messed up?”Yeah. I think it is. Definitely. And I think it’s something that I’ll probably definitely struggle with. You know? And I think even just like the negativity about my name. For me, it was weird. Because I’m like, “Damn.” I’m such a positive person, the people that know me. People see my story, understand where I come from and all the things that I’ve been able to achieve so far in my career. It has always been about positivity, right? It’s always like good things. “How can you hate this person”-type of thing.Coming to Toronto, I always felt like it was a perfect mix. Me and Toronto was always perfect because, OK, I’m international, I love the diversity about being in Toronto. I understand being an underdog. Toronto always feels like it’s that underrated type of city. The people always feel like they never get respect from the general American media.I think for me, just seeing the negativity and all the slanders about me, it just made me feel some type of way, obviously, to be honest. It was just kind of disappointing and just kind of like, “Man.” I really did feel like just me going through tough times, it’s not going to change everything, right? I felt like we were connected. And obviously I understand like, man, this is a sport, right? You get paid the big bucks. You get paid to perform. I get that and I understand it.Part of Siakam’s rehabilitation has been working with Robert Spang, a physical therapist. Jessica Lehrman for The New York TimesWas there any irritation from you toward the Raptors that your name was surfacing so much in trade rumors?It didn’t bother me really, because I never really heard anything from the Raptors. Even all the news I was seeing it was never like: “Oh. The Raptors wanted to give up Siakam for this.” It was always like, “The Warriors like Pascal,” or it was always, “The Kings like Pascal,” or this. There was never nothing where it was like, “The Raptors wanted to give away Pascal.”With the understanding that things can change — it’s a business, things can change with you, things change with the organization — as we sit here right now, do you see yourself in Toronto long term?I do.I’m a really prideful person and I always want to be the best player that I can be, and the bubble wasn’t that. So I get it, I understand it, but also for me what really hurt me is one of those things about my dad or like, “Oh, your dad wouldn’t have been proud of this.” [Siakam’s father died in a car accident in 2014.]You were seeing that on social media?People, they told me about it because I was really off social media. I didn’t want to know about it, but I heard it was like, racist comments and things like that. For me, those were just the things that were sad about the whole thing.Last season, you had that blow up with Nick Nurse. As you think about it now, did you feel like that was a low point in the season? Or was it blown out of proportion by people like me?No, I don’t think it was that bad. Obviously, losing is not fun, right? No matter what you can say about the Raptors, we’ve been part of winning. OK, there’s years where we didn’t do well in the playoffs or whatever the case might be, but we’ve always had winning seasons since I’ve been here. It was always about winning. I mean, when you talk to Masai, he can’t finish three sentences without talking about winning. This is who we are. What we do in Toronto since I’ve been there is about winning. That’s all we do.Siakam and Coach Nick Nurse had a notable dust-up last season, but Siakam says that was just them being “grown men.”David Zalubowski/Associated PressFair point. But this seemed like it went a little further.This is what happened: It was after a game. I’m just so frustrated. It’s like, “Oh, we’re losing and I’m just mad I didn’t play and I could’ve really helped my team.”And we’re having a losing season and I think those things happen between a coach and a player. Obviously, I probably used language, uh, people use. It is what it is, but I don’t think it was such a big deal because after that situation happened, we talked. We are on good terms.It was just an argument. Literally one argument and like: “Oh, I’m mad at this. I’m yelling and this is it.” That’s it. Grown men.What are your expectations of yourself as you enter the new season?I feel like when the season was ending, I was catching a rhythm, finally feeling good. “Man, I just had Covid. Lost 20 pounds.” These are things that I was going through, and I feel like I’ve always gotten better in my eyes. And I think there’s another level that I can definitely get to. And for me, I definitely see myself as an All-Star. Potentially, wanting to be a most valuable player in the league one day. But for me, I do think that there’s definitely a lot more to unleash into my dream that’s going to take me to the next level.This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.Jessica Lehrman for The New York Times More