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The 10-man rotation, starring Vince Carter not dunking after all, you guys
A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It’s also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren’t always listed in order of importance. That’s for you, dear reader, to figure out.
C: NBA.com. Bad news, rap dudes: Vince Carter isn’t really thinking about entering the 2017 Slam Dunk Contest, after all.
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PF: FanSided. Ian Levy on how “3-and-D” has gone from a wing specialization to a near-necessity at positions all over the court.
SF: Give Me Sport. Good stuff from Mark Deeks about how the Chicago Bulls have mitigated their oft-cited shooting deficiencies and managed to create spacing en route to a 3-0 start. (And here’s where we pause to note that, “oft-cited shooting deficiencies” aside, the Bulls just set a franchise record for 3-pointers made through three games. Maybe they’re not as deficient as we thought?)
SG: The Hook. Tom Ziller on the bummerific state of play in the Big Easy, where Anthony Davis is playing like the god we knew he could be, and it still doesn’t matter.
PG: Eye on Basketball. Matt Moore on the Houston Rockets, who are who we thought they were, and man, is that fun.
[BDL’s 2016-17 NBA Season Previews: In-depth looks at all 30 teams]
6th: Minneapolis Star-Tribune. After watching his young charges blow double-digit leads to the Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings in their first two games of the season, Tom Thibodeau calls into question his team’s fortitude in a few different areas: “Everything: Mental toughness, physical toughness, emotional toughness, all aspects of it […] We have to get a lot tougher.”
7th: The Crossover. Rob Mahoney on the continued growth and evolution of Kawhi Leonard, who “tends to make life more hellish for his adversaries than they ever could for him.”
[The 2016-17 BDL 25: The key storylines to watch this NBA season]
8th: Bay Area News Group. Marcus Thompson III on the challenge and opportunity facing Steve Kerr: making the Golden State Warriors into the super-team they’re expected to be.
9th: The Sporting News. Adi Joseph sees the Charlotte Hornets’ decision to give Cody Zeller a four-year, $56 million contract extension as the continuation of a cap-savvy, development-trusting strategy deployed by Hornets GM Rich Cho.
10th: The Nation. Dave Zirin on what the Sevyn Streeter/Philadelphia 76ers/”We Matter” flap tells us about how the NBA plans to handle any prospective pre-game protests of the national anthem: “Players can be political all they want as long as it is on their own time and as long as it’s clear who controls the court.”
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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