Кэвин Дурант 38 насандаа NBA-ийн шилдэг жигүүрийн тоглогч хэвээр байна

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We did it. We made it to September. This is the last month until July that we don’t have official NBA basketball games. Training camps begin in a few weeks. Over/unders are being bandied about. Season previews are being written and reviewed. We’re almost there!

Position rankings

Durant leads The Bounce’s top 40 wings

After flawlessly ranking (just go with it) big men, lead guards and shooting guards over the last three newsletters, we’re moving to wings today. (Insert joke about buffalo and lemon pepper here. Don’t forget to write the joke.) Wings are as important to the NBA as any other position. And a big chunk of the difference-making stars and role players exist in this category.

Much like the other positional rankings in this positionless NBA, we broke the wings down into seven tiers of effectiveness and stature. The King has fallen. His teammate is rising. And plenty of spots on this list are in question.

Let’s go over the top 40 wings!

I was torn on how the top four of this list would shake out. At times, Brown was in the top spot. I wondered if Kawhi is even going to play for Toronto, let alone play at all. LeBron falling to fourth felt like a bad decision, and then I had to remind myself no one in Year 24 should even be in the running for best wing. That’s how good he is. Ultimately, Durant — who turns 38 this month — felt like the guy you still have to game plan for the most.

• Anunoby proved he’s as good as any of those other guys during the Knicks title run. He sacrifices a lot of numbers and his role to keep things together.
• Williams didn’t move this year, after I struggled with him only being seventh last season. A healthy campaign in 2026-27 will have him climbing.
• I’m not sure if people realize how good McDaniels has become. One of the best defenders in the world. And the soon-to-be 26-year-old is now a very reliable scorer.
• Feels like a bit of a “prove it” year for Wagner, and he needs to remain healthy.

George fell five spots, to out of the top 10, and I’m curious if he should have dropped even more. Boston will rely on the to do much of what Brown did the last few years. I’m very high on Murphy and think he can be one of the best wings in the NBA. Avdija saw a massive hike in his ranking after his All-Star campaign.

• Amen Thompson also fell five spots because we didn’t quite see the consistency in his impact in high-pressure situations. His brother, Ausar, needs to become a decent free-throw shooter if he wants to be higher on this list.
• NAW might be a little too high, but the leap he took last season was impressive. I’m curious if he can do even more.
• I was so wrong in questioning Knueppel going into his rookie season. He was awesome.

Butler fell out of the top 20 because of his knee injury. We don’t know when he’s coming back, and the soon-to-be 37-year-old will have to prove he’s still a star on the court when he returns. On the other end of the age range, Dybantsa’s rookie campaign will be tricky to gauge early with Anthony Davis and Trae Young running the show.

• Camara didn’t fall because of any lapse in his effectiveness. Other guys just climbed.
• Champagnie, who is signed for three years and $45 million, could be one of the best contracts in the NBA.
• The wing I will probably regret keeping off the list the most is the 22-year-old Bilal Coulibaly. He just has to be healthy. The next biggest potential regret is Hugo Gonzalez.

Players dropped from last year: Khris Middleton (24th), Coulibaly (30th), Zaccharie Risacher (32nd), Caleb Martin (34th), Kevin Porter Jr. (35th), Derrick Jones Jr. (38th)

The last 24

🇫🇷 Parlez-vous? Victor Wembanyama is finding his voice on all matters. And he’s not afraid of upsetting other people with his views.

⚾ More questions. Mark Walter’s surprising decision to sell the Lakers has brought more scrutiny on his other enterprises. Including the interesting way he bought the Dodgers.

💰 Losing touch? The NBA keeps having record team valuations and cash flows. But is the league still connected with fans?

🤔 Is he right? KD believes his Nets teams were actually better than the Warriors. Does it matter without rings?

🏀 Already leaders? The Valkyrie are in just their second WNBA season. They might be the best in the league.

Stream the NBA on Fubo (try it for free!)and catch out-of-market games onLeague Pass

Wolf man

Has Kuminga found a place to shine?

There were a lot of assumptions that Jonathan Kuminga’s next home would be with the Lakers, with whom Kuminga reportedly had a three-year offer in the range of $12 million annually. But Kuminga wants a much bigger deal, and he wants to prove he’s worth that deal.

So it was a bit of a surprise when he agreed to a two-year, $13 million contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves last week. The second year is a player option, so it’s most likely going to be a one-year experiment for both sides.

Kuminga has only played in 294 games in his five-year career (211 of them came in his first three seasons), but it’s not because of injuries. It’s because Steve Kerr thought he wasn’t good or malleable enough on the court to play for a Warriors team that was willing to throw lots of random young players on the floor. I’m not sure what’s worse: missing games because of injuries or because your coach thinks you can’t play.

Kuminga will have three objectives for the Wolves: 1) play defense, 2) knock down 3-pointers and 3) be an athlete. It’s basically the same role they give Terrence Shannon Jr. Except Kuminga is a more high-profile prospect. He’ll turn 24 right before the season starts, so there’s still plenty of time for him to develop more.

But the Wolves are on a time crunch of their own. They are still trying to crack the final code of the Western Conference escape room. That’s getting tougher and tougher to do with the Thunder and Spurs so prominently positioned.

Kuminga is only a 34.6 percent catch-and-shoot 3-point marksman for his career. However, in his first two seasons, he was around 36.7 percent. He’ll need to be a little better than that to spot up, but it’s within reach for him. He just can’t take away from his teammates’ games to get his numbers and eventually his money.

That was his undoing with Kerr, fair or not. The Wolves’ team goals are too lofty for Kuminga to figure out what will actually get him paid and validated.

Tradeback Tuesday

Did Houston get fleeced for Harden?

Every Tuesday during the offseason, we’re going over a famous trade from yesteryear and trying to figure out the fallout from these massive deals.

Today, we’re heading back to January 2021, when James Harden forced his way out of Houston to head to Brooklyn. Back in February, we ranked this as his best/most hilarious forced exit.

This was a four-team deal with Harden going to the Nets, Jarrett Allen going to Cleveland and Caris LeVert headed to Indiana. The Rockets received Victor Oladipo (he was basically done at that point), Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, four first-round pick swaps and four first-round picks in the deal.

But is it possible Houston got robbed in the process? Let’s take a look!

The pick swaps in 2021, 2023 and 2025 were not exercised. So those … were nothing in terms of assets. The Beauchamp pick was moved to Milwaukee for another pick swap (it was exercised, and the Rockets got Josh Christopher), D.J. Augustin, D.J. Wilson and a 2023 first. That 2023 first was flipped for Cam Whitmore, who was flipped for two seconds.

The Rockets did get Eason and Sheppard out of this deal. Eason has been a nice role player; they just re-signed this summer. Sheppard had a brutal rookie campaign and then was better but still not reliable last season.

Houston flipped that 2026 pick from Brooklyn back to the Nets, who selected Mikel Brown at No. 6 in this year’s draft.

The Rockets get a 2027 first from Phoenix, a 2029 first (most favorable of Dallas, Houston and Phoenix), and another 2029 first (second-most favorable of those three teams).

Overall, the Rockets have received a good role player, a bit of a liability for whom they passed over Stephon Castle and three future firsts that will hopefully land them someone significant.

Brooklyn got 80 games in two half-seasons with Harden. He injured his hamstring in the playoffs and then wanted off the Nets by the middle of the next season. They sent him to Philadelphia for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and two picks. One pick hasn’t conveyed yet and could be two seconds. The other pick was flipped for Royce O’Neale.

Cleveland still has Allen manning the middle, and Indiana flipped LeVert to the Cavs for Ricky Rubio, a second-round pick that became Andrew Nembhard and a first that became Ben Sheppard.

Rafael Stone was put in an impossible situation when he took over the Rockets, and he’s managed it really well. Yes, some missteps have happened, but he still has first-round picks in the future for moving the franchise’s most successful star since Hakeem Olajuwon. But so far, there is very little to show for it.

At least he can take solace in knowing all the Nets got for Harden a year later was Simmons and “this lousy t-shirt.”