Basketball from a fans perspective 

Published Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday

Bits n Pieces of information

September 24 NBA training camp opened for teams participating in preseason games outside North America. On Tuesday October 1 training camps begins for the balance of NBA teams. The Celtics will begin defense of their 2024 championship and attempt something not done in quite a while...repeat as NBA champions. As autumn  officially begins I can say this was an interesting summer, who says there is an off-season, with Summer League basketball and the Olympics fanatics like me had a significant amount of basketball to watch during the summer including that played by AAU teams.   

Most of you might be aware AJ Dybantsa is the number one prospect in the Class of 2025. This 6 foot 9 200 pound forward has a considerable number of schools recruiting him. Recently the number was reduced to 7, who are they you ask? They include Kansas, Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, BYU, Kansas State and North Carolina. Kansas basketball is heavily recruiting Dybantsa having hosted the young man on September 6, on September 20 he visited North Carolina and Alabama September 27. It’s unclear at this point where Dybantsa might be headed however ON3.com claims there is a 20% chance Dybantsa will chose BYU over the others. I wonder if this decision might be somewhat connected to his attendance at Utah Prep Academy in Hurricane Utah.

The defending Western Conference Championship Mavs have a new addition, I’m not speaking of any rookie this is a focus on sharpshooter Klay Thompson the other half of the Splash Brothers. After playing for the Warriors 13 years he found himself traded to the Mavs in July. Thompson is 34-years old now and with two surgeries in his recent past how much is “left in the tank” for him certainly might be a question? Last season Thompson scored nearly 18 points a game as he took on a less evident role on the fortunes of the Warriors. Rest assured the Mavs are hoping Thompson becomes the missing piece to an NBA championship.

On Wednesday I published the words of Kevin Garnett regarding Duke freshman Cooper Flagg. Garnett was extremely impressed with the potential of Flagg, I affirmed his view although not in the same language he used (lol). Why am I so confident regarding the Duke youngster…that’s easy. It’s not only Garnett I could add Kevin Durant to the growing number of NBA veterans Flagg’s impressed. After a scrimmage against Team USA these are the words of Durant. “He looks like a hell of a player,” Durant said at the time. “Somebody who is only going to get better with more experience.” For me if these two and others believe that strongly in the future of Flagg they allow that certainty to stream to me and others.

Jr. College, Big Sky, SEC…now NBA

The headline is the route Dalton Knecht traveled to become the Lakers first pick in the 2024 NBA draft. This is not intended as a slam but few NBA players these days begin their journey at a junior college. In the case of Knecht it was necessary because his outlook in high school even his senior year was unimpressive. In addition he only stood 6 foot 1 adequate for junior college but not the NBA. From Northeastern Junior College it was Northern Colorado University and finally a single breakout season at the University of Tennessee. By this time Knecht had grown to 6 foot 6 inches and 215 pounds. As the draft approached Knecht was projected to be a lottery pick on several sites.

Truth is nbadraft.net listed Knecht as the number 6 choice on their mock draft site. It may have been his age (23) or something else, as name after name was announced by the commissioner the slide had begun. Imagine the Lakers surprise when they discovered Knecht was available at 17. He was chosen then NBA Summer League play, his game was only average but certainly much more is expected once the 2024-25 NBA season begins. The route traveled by Knecht is not the usual one taken by most NBA first round picks, the question is he worth it? A few short weeks ahead of training camp and prior to the season I have no idea. Despite the statement seeing the road traveled thus far I would never say never, Knecht proves he’s got work ethic and will take him a great distance.

Dr. J. wasn’t much of a shooter

Before you begin booing and hissing me allow me to explain the headline. This is the end of that headline…Boy could he soar. Folks love to talk about Air Jordan however the doctor was “Air” prior to MJ arriving on the scene. As for his shooting Dr. J. had a lifetime .506 shooting from the floor and a rather average .298 from three. I consider him one of the driving forces behind expansion which added the Nets, Pacers, Nuggets and Spurs to the NBA. He left UMass for the ABA Virgina Squires in 1971, he played for them until 1973 moving to the New York Nets. From this point on the record is muddled in that we saw a number of events occur. Dr. J. would play a few exhibition games for the Atlanta Hawks although they held no draft rights.

His rights were actually held by the Milwaukee Bucks, finally legal action forced him to return to the NBA. By this time expansion had occurred, the Nets had Dr. J. and Nate Archibald, the prospect of having these two rival the Knicks caused them consternation. The Nets were forced to pay a huge sum of money for their entry into the New York market. After first paying a fee to join the NBA and then this effort to enter the New York market Roy Boe owner could not pay Dr. J. what was promised. An event would occur that drastically affected the Knicks, with money as an issue the contract of Dr. J. was offered to the Knicks who unbelievably turned them down. At this point, the Sixers purchased his contract and the balance of this story is NBA history.