Is "Baller" Trademarked Yet?

Every year, I have my Unofficial Big Board, and I decided to release the first round of it!  I also wrote a couple sentences about each player.  I do not do this full-time, which is why I had been resistant to release many of my past boards, but I thought it would be fun to discuss.  While I consider a combination of what they’ve shown, analytics, and how they play, the most important part of how I view players is how I project they will be in the NBA, which is what this is all about.  I also included descriptions of why I’m lower on 5 guys who I have being first round picks.   1:   Cooper Flagg Duke, Fr, 18, SF/PF, 6’7.75, 221 lbs., 7’0 Wing He has the highest floor and ceiling in this class.   If it works out, he will be a star in the league, though I still think he will develop into an amazing defender if his offense doesn’t translate to the NBA. 2:   Dylan Harper Rutgers, Fr, PG/SG, 6’4.5, 213.2 lbs., 6’10.5 Wing I’m a sucker for...

Every year, I release 3 mock drafts prior to the NBA Draft, and this is the third!  This has been considered an elite class due to the projected top-2 picks, but how polarizing players are starting at the potential 3 rd pick will make this a very interesting draft cycle.  On top of that, several college players with eligibility returned to school due to NIL. All of my drafts are aggregates of several drafts and are intended to give an idea of what the draft is looking like at this point in time (while I would love it if I am right on several picks in the mock, there’s movement that I won’t know about until during the draft).  While I account for need in certain picks (more so in the first round, especially the lottery), these are not a reflection of what I think of each pick or how I would rank the prospects.  The picks are divided into three sections:  for the lottery, I provided vitals, in depth analysis, comparison, and the fit with the team...

Game 6 of the NBA Finals is in the books, and the Indiana Pacers won 108-91.  I want to emphasize that this was a total blowout, and the only reason it was a 17-point game was because OKC easily outscored Indiana in garbage time.  Oklahoma City was absolutely horrible, Indiana was amazing, Tyrese Haliburton looked healthy, James Johnson got ejected after finally getting into a game (poor James Johnson), and I was so sick of taking notes about halfway through the fourth quarter that I only wrote down things that were major (which was that Johnson got ejected).  These are my observations from the game.     OKC had such a sloppy game Throughout the game, OKC had their struggles, but the most notable was how much they turned the ball over.   OKC had 21 turnovers (something notable was that Indiana had 16 steals), but many of these plays were because one player was trying to do too much and struggled in isolation ball (more on that in the next observatio...

Game 5 of the NBA Finals is in the books, and the Oklahoma City Thunder won 120-109.  While Indiana got it down to 2 points, OKC had a resounding lead throughout the entire game; that said, the bigger story is how much Tyrese Haliburton struggled due to a calf strain.  These are my observations from the game.   OKC’s defense in the half court was excellent, though the transition defense wasn’t great at points OKC’s defense was excellent for most of the game and was a big part of their win.   While most would focus on their turnovers, they also did a great job challenging shots, making shots difficult, and contesting shots, especially at the rim.   While Indiana remained in the game for a while, the big blow was when OKC forced turnovers on 4 straight possessions.   Unlike earlier games in the series, OKC also was able to score off turnovers, which made things even easier for them.   That said, they ran into an issue when facing transition offense...