Tom Ziller
@teamziller.bsky.social
I write a daily NBA newsletter. teamziller.com
Agree with @teamziller.bsky.social: you can't call the new NBA draft lottery punishment the relegation zone. That's already a thing. We need something new before next season, when people start using it. My best ideas: lottery circle of hell or lottery losers club www.teamziller.com/nba-zone-of-...
Meet the NBA's Zone of Shame
The worst three teams in the NBA will suffer the indignity of lottery disadvantage. With free agency mostly settled, who are the contenders?
teamziller.com
Getting your injured foot run over by a fire engine after crashing into said fire engine riding a scooter drunk is a rich text. I'd like to offer up a Kings player breaking his forearm while using dumbbells balancing on a yoga ball that burst under him while doing an official team-led workout
Looked at some examples of high-usage players joining teams with pre-existing high-usage players and my takeaway is that the Sixers should probably be fine. Also: Blazers management was particularly gross in their latest chat with Portland www.teamziller.com/sixers-usage...
Do the Sixers have enough balls?
Plus: the Blazers try to neg their way into an arena deal.
teamziller.com
Add it to the Bay Area Athlete Strange Vehicular Injury Search Term Hall of Fame jeff kent washing his truck monta ellis mo-ped harrison bader scooter vs. fire engine
Amanda Mull@amandamull.bsky.social · 5d agoMy bf is a Giants fan and this coming out one fact at a time over several hours last night was fun. “He was already injured and got hurt out drinking…on a scooter…which he crashed…into a truck? …a FIRE ENGINE? …IT RAN OVER HIS FOOT? HE DID THE SAME THING IN COLLEGE??” nypost.com/2026/07/31/s...
There once was a shady deal in Pawtucket. A soccer club had a hole in its bucket. Kawhi got involved, the problem was solved. But whose mysterious investments un-stuck it? Here's my speculation on how new shenanigans @pablo.show uncovered might have played out. www.teamziller.com/kawhi-leonar...
Need any fake trees for those fake houses, Kawhi?
Another podcast has hit the L.A. Clippers.
teamziller.com
This is exceptional from @teamziller.bsky.social. When it comes to labor battles, NBA owners - and billionaires in general - do not give a crap about winning the press conference, or being right. They can constantly demand more, and history tells us they'll probably win. t.co/HfnqqHZfat
Retrying without a painting that triggers PrudeSky's adult content warning: Greedy-ass NBA owners finally won what's basically a hard cap. Next they could try to change the revenue split (again) or bring more Hollywood accounting to the league. www.teamziller.com/nba-owners-g...
Free Newsletter Wednesday features an inquiry as to what the greedy owners of the NBA will try to claw after next since they have achieved their long-held goal of a harder salary cap www.teamziller.com/nba-owners-g...
NBA owners won a hard cap. They will not stop clawing for more
The richest people on Earth aren't often satisfied with their winnings. The next fight could be to shift the 50-50 revenue split with players to be more skewed, or to establish more creative accountin...
teamziller.com
It's the post-2026 season Consensus Best Player Alive update. After back-to-back MVPs, Shai has triumphed and ended Jokic's 4-year reign. (Or paused it. It's still close.) www.teamziller.com/shai-gilgeou...
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the new Consensus Best Player Alive
Nikola Jokic is still in range. Victor Wembanyama is coming.
teamziller.com
I wrote about the Nuggets, who are obviously in real salary cap trouble and need Braun, Cam and/or AG to rebound strong to allow the team to keep it together. www.teamziller.com/nuggets-spen...
The Nuggets are a mile high and perhaps six feet under
Denver matches an offer sheet for Spencer Jones and is still hoping to retain Peyton Watson. They are swallowed by the luxury tax and it might be over.
teamziller.com
Did someone mention Kyle Kuzma? The guy with the lowest single-season Win Share total for a player at least 25 years old with 1,000 minutes played in the last 20 seasons?
Big deal. The Sacramento Kings have been 3D printing bricks for decades 🙄
Jalopnik@jalopnik.bsky.social · last wk.An MIT team's first result is a model bridge that is 16% lighter than its traditionally made equivalent, with the same load capacity.
In recent weeks, there has been a remarkable surge in large, intense, fast-moving, and unfortunately in many cases destructive/deadly wildfires in multiple Northern Hemisphere regions spanning a wide range of climates & ecologies, but they all share one key commonality. [Thread]
Special Saturday newsletter for no reason in particular www.teamziller.com/lebron-james...
Wine dad announces new winter project
LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er. That sentence is real.
teamziller.com
Happy Friday. I wrote 1,800 words on what went wrong with the Kings and what I think the path back should be. Yes, that includes unplugging The Beam for a few years. (And starting Dylan Cardwell). www.teamziller.com/sacramento-k...
Light the beam (on fire and watch it burn)
The Sacramento Kings have to be ready to completely turn the page from their most recent rare successes.
teamziller.com
Wrote about Duren vs. the Pistons, LeBron vs. Silver and Dundon vs. Portland. www.teamziller.com/jalen-duren-...
Jalen Duren meets the restricted free agency torture rack
A lesson for young NBA would-be stars.
teamziller.com
It's Free Newsletter Wednesday and I wrote about the contenders for the Zone of Shame, which much of NBA media is calling the "relegation zone," which doesn't make sense. www.teamziller.com/nba-zone-of-...
A dude who made his billions commoditizing high-interest auto loans for desperate people is trying to hold the city of Portland and Blazers fans hostage. The NBA is helping ... *him* www.teamziller.com/blazers-tom-...
Portland has been pulled into a full-on arena hostage situation
And the NBA doesn't appear willing to help one bit.
teamziller.com
Wrote about the Lu Dort trade and why it's more than just financial. www.teamziller.com/lu-dort-trad...
Lu Dort should be expendable anyway
The Thunder trade their longest-tenured player for second-round picks and slide under the second apron. His importance to the team was already slipping. But what's this mean for Cason Wallace?
teamziller.com
Noah Kahan is Maple Zach Bryan (or Zach Bryan is Catfish Noah Kahan, hard to tell who's more famous these days)
The Medium Lebowski@noongoon.bsky.social · 3w agoWhen I first heard him I thought it was sad music for middle aged guys so imagine my surprise when my son told me about it and we went to see him in New Hampshire and I learned it was sad music for teenagers.
NBA players hate the second apron. So why did their union approve it with no apparent fight in 2023? Is the sudden departure of Tamika Tremaglio later that year related? Whatever was happening at the union in early 2023, it may have changed the league forever. www.teamziller.com/nba-players-...
What the hell happened with the NBA players' union in 2023?
Did a blip forever alter the NBA's team-building paradigm?
teamziller.com
Question for those who have seen THE ODYSSEY already: okay on the big screen for a 12-year-old? Her favorite movie is JAWS (which she saw in the theater without adult support) and she loved the Gareth Hinds graphic novel. I’ll take my answer off the air.
It's Free Newsletter Wednesday. I wrote about the lack of a right or wrong answer about the Second Apron Era and also included a bunch links: www.teamziller.com/nba-apron-er...
You don't have to love or hate the NBA's Apron Era
The NBA has had a massive paradigm shift in the past few years, and it's impacting every team in the league and most players. It's led to increased parity and hope among the miserable, and it's breaki...
teamziller.com
Wrote about Wembanyama's contract discount and how we do have repeated examples of this fueling superpowers www.teamziller.com/victor-wemba...
Superpowers are built with superstar discounts
Victor Wembanyama took a potential discount from the Spurs on his extension, mimicking two Thunder stars, the reigning Finals MVP and two older legends.
teamziller.com
Gary Trent's deal sure looks like cap circumvention, but we are too quick in dismissing the possibility that Wes Edens just got hit with ANOTHER LinkedIn reply extortion plot. www.teamziller.com/gary-trent-j...
Is the Bucks' crooked Gary Trent Jr. contract punishment enough?
Milwaukee stuns everyone with a two years' late contract for Gary Trent. Plus: Bam Adebayo addresses Tyler Herro's apparent criticism.
teamziller.com
Sometimes in the offseason I'm like "oh no, what will I write about tomorrow?" and sometimes in the offseason I'm like "fire up the headline machine, I've got typing to do" www.teamziller.com/kawhi-leonar...
I keep thinking about this Alex Ross painting of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen that is, for some reason, also the cast of 30 Rock
