Welcome to the dog days. Most of the NBA will spend the next few weeks lounging on deck chairs near various distant seas before the slow march back into playing shape begins after Labor Day. Before you know it, we’ll start a whole new cycle of October promises.

Before we get to that point, it’s time to assess what’s already happened. Free agency went fast, and then slow, and there was only one true blockbuster move — Paul George heading to Philly. (I say this with the caveat that my publishing this piece all but assures an out-of-nowhere blockbuster upsets the apple cart soon.)

Nonetheless, the summer featured a sizable number of mid-sized transactions that either went under the radar or weren’t fully appreciated, and I’d argue an equally large number fell firmly in the not-great-Bob category and were equally underrated for their … underwhelmingness. This week, I’m going to delve into both categories. However, to stave off accusations of being an angry curmudgeon for at least one more news cycle, I’m going to start with the positive and focus on the offseason’s best under-the-radar moves.

Before we begin, remember that I’m correcting for public perception here. For instance, the Philadelphia 76ers getting George was awesome, but I think the Sixers have already gotten their flowers for that.

Similarly, the Oklahoma City Thunder made out like bandits this offseason; suffice to say, I believe the impact of their two big gets (Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein) is just as large as everyone thinks. Finally, Jalen Brunson’s extension is going to pay massive dividends for the New York Knicks in the coming years, but that’s already received plentiful (and well-earned) coverage.

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Instead, here are five other moves I think deserve a lot more attention. Four of them get bonus points for requiring some relatively out-of-the-box thinking, while the fifth happened during the Paris Olympics, so some people may have missed it.

Warriors’ Klay Thompson sign-and-trade

The fact that people seem to think Golden State had a bad offseason is a tell to me that they don’t get how much lemonade the Warriors made out of Thompson’s departure … and that re-signing him at a big number had a chance to be pure lemons.

No, they didn’t get George and Lauri Markkanen, but those were low-odds moonshots. Further down the talent curve, however, look at what they got out of Thompson leaving for Dallas.

Rather than overpay a declining player for the vibes, the Warriors parlayed him into two different players (Buddy Hield and Kyle Anderson) who combined will make less money than Thompson and a random minimum-contract guy. There’s a good chance each individually will matter more to the Warriors than Thompson would have too. (Thompson seems like a good fit in Dallas, incidentally … but Golden State is not Dallas.)

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For starters, you could hardly design a better Thompson replacement than Hield. The Warriors replaced a 41 percent career 3-point shooter with a 40 percent career 3-point shooter, and Hield is three years younger, less destructively thirsty inside the arc and more capable of guarding the perimeter. (Hield isn’t exactly a DPOY candidate, but Thompson has reached a point where he mostly has to be hidden on fours.)

And as they say in infomercials … but wait, there’s more! Golden State also acquired Anderson from the Minnesota Timberwolves. Slo-Mo is a tough fit for some rosters because of his limited floor spacing, but in a Warriors system that’s all about reading, reacting and IQ, he should be perfect. He averaged 3.5 assists for every turnover last year as a point forward in Minnesota and likely can fill a similar role when Stephen Curry is off the floor. Additionally, he was by far the Wolves’ best Luka Dončić defender in the Western Conference finals.

These moves aren’t going to put the Warriors back in the title chase on their own, but turning Thompson into these two players (and cutting Chris Paul, I should add) had two other benefits. First, it allowed Golden State to sign De’Anthony Melton while staying below the tax apron. Second and more importantly, it didn’t burn any of their draft-pick capital for an in-season blockbuster if one comes their way: The three separate sign-and-trades netted out to only cost them cash and a 2031 second-round pick swap.

Rockets’ draft-pick recalibration

The one deal from this summer that has the highest ratio of “crazy high upside” to “people aren’t really talking about this” is Houston’s ancillary piece of the Mikal Bridges trade between Brooklyn and New York. Obviously, the Knicks and Nets made their own fascinating bets, but Houston is the side that seems to have walked away with something for nothing.

The Rockets took an unprotected pick and an unprotected swap that were owed to them by Brooklyn and sent them back to the Nets, in return for different unprotected picks that were owed by the Phoenix Suns. The trade gave the Nets a logic to tank that didn’t previously exist and paved the way for them to deal Bridges, Sag for Flagg and get on with their lives, but it came at a steep price.

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The Rockets didn’t just trade like for like; they got some extra goodies on top. For instance, Houston sent a Brooklyn 2026 unprotected first-round pick back to the Nets in return for Phoenix’s unprotected first in 2029 … but there was more. The Suns got some added vig with the ability to swap that pick for Dallas’ unprotected first that same year, and further to swap their own pick in 2029 for whatever of the two is left. In other words, the Rockets are guaranteed the two best of their own pick, Dallas’ or Phoenix’s that June.

Similarly, the Rockets exchanged a 2025 pick swap with the Nets for a more complicated (and less alluring, I should say) pick swap that likely will let them swap Oklahoma City’s 2025 first (which they already own) for Phoenix’s; realistically, that projects as a likely move up in the back half of the first round of, say, five to 10 spots.

But, again, that swap of swaps (you following this?) also came with a big extra cost: The Rockets got Phoenix’s 2027 unprotected first too.
Thus, the Rockets started with an unprotected first and an unprotected swap from Brooklyn and ended up with two unprotected firsts from Phoenix and two swaps.

What makes this so cool for Houston is that the Suns, despite their own underrated move this summer (more on that below), are rapidly hurtling toward Armageddon. Maybe not this year, maybe not even next … but it’s just around the corner. Owning late-decade Suns draft capital is a great business to be in.

As the Suns’ old guys age out, their lack of draft picks and apron handcuffs the talent pipeline and the expense of a declining roster weighs them down, just look here … the Rockets are sitting there as a potential savior.

Dangling the return of those two picks and some other goodies to get Devin Booker and let the Suns restart in two or three years is perhaps still an underdog bet, and much water will go under the bridge between now and then.

However, this is some serious strategic thinking. It also has near-zero downside since the Rockets can always just, y’know, use the picks, and they improved their position vis-à-vis those as well. Thus, Houston might end up the real winners of the Bridges trade.

Wolves moving into draft’s top 10

We still don’t know exactly how the player will work out. Rob Dillingham might end up being too defensively vulnerable to stay on the floor in the playoffs or not quite offensively gifted enough to be more than a second-unit scorer. He was the eighth pick in a weak draft; history says stardom is hardly guaranteed.

On the other hand, the more I think about the process behind this trade, it was fairly brilliant. The Timberwolves had little capacity to add rotation-caliber players in free agency due to being above the second apron, realistically needed at least one more rotation-level player at any perimeter position over the next two years and also had a looming succession issue at point guard (Mike Conley Jr. is 36 years old) with no talent waiting in the wings.

Enter draft night. Minnesota took the only sharp arrow left in its asset quiver, a 2031 first-round pick, and advanced it seven years by sending it and a 2030 top-one protected pick swap to San Antonio to select Dillingham with the eighth pick. San Antonio also had reasons for doing this, but the Wolves paid a reasonable price. Remember, in the current lottery system, they could be horrible in 2030-2031 and still not end up picking higher than eighth.

Rob Dillingham figures to see action as the Wolves’ backup point guard. (Adam Hagy / NBAE via Getty Images)

And I’m not sure they’ll be horrible. Yes, Minnesota is all-in now, almost as deeply and scarily as the aforementioned Suns. However, the Wolves’ core players are also much younger. In particular, Edwards is 23 and, the way the cap rules work now, his next extension is likely to keep him in Minnesota at least through that 2031 season, perhaps softening the blow of the future pick they owe. (Edwards could sign a monstrous extension in the summer of 2028 that would carry him to 2033, for instance.) If Dillingham pans out, he’ll have a similar effect.

Additionally, Dillingham’s inexpensive rookie contract ($6.2 million, $6.6 million and $6.9 million for the next three years before a bump to $8.8 million 2027-28) fills a four-year window when the Wolves are at their most vulnerable to the depredations of the two tax aprons and the new collective bargaining agreement’s punitive luxury tax and repeater penalties.

Hard decisions await in the next two summers; both Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid have player options and could become free agents, for instance, and the draft pick cupboard is barren. Not having to worry about signing a point guard, or about opening a new hole on the roster by trading for one, eases the degree of difficulty of executing the rest.

(While we’re here: One could argue Providence’s more defensively versatile Devin Carter might have fit the Wolves’ win-now mode better than the 19-year-old Dillingham, but his post-draft shoulder surgery pretty much ends that discussion. Ditto for Nikola Topić, who is out of the year with a knee injury.)

On one level, this didn’t require the creative juice of some of the other moves. Phoenix only had a minimum deal to offer Jones, and when the market turned on him, he took it. Credit to the Suns for having the patience to wait out the market before filling their 15th roster spot, and to their ownership for paying the additional $12 million in luxury tax this required rather than just staying at the minimum 14 players.

On the other hand, I don’t think the impact of this move is getting enough attention. The Suns desperately needed both A) a real point guard and B) another starting-caliber level player, at any position. Jones checked both boxes without costing them any draft picks (not that they had any left to trade) or other assets.

My BORD$ formula had a $14.2 million valuation on Jones, which obviously makes him a screaming bargain on a minimum deal. On a roster where the only other options were the brittle and less offensively potent Monté Morris (himself a bargain on a minimum deal earlier this summer) and “let’s see how another year of Point Booker works out,” Jones is basically manna from heaven. Though an extremely late addition, he’s good enough that he could genuinely matter in a congested West race where two or three wins might be the difference between the third seed and the Play-In Tournament … not to mention a playoff series.

Sure, Jones is gonzo next summer, and they’ll have to try to fill his spot again, but for a team in win-now mode, the “NOW” part strikes me as the more important element. The late-decade endgame in Phoenix looks brutal no matter what. But whatever Phoenix’s 2024-25 ceiling is going to be with Mat Ishbia’s absurdly all-in, burn-all-the-draft-picks approach, the Suns are way more likely to hit it after adding Jones.

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Dallas’ sign-and-trade for Thompson hogged the spotlight, and early returns are tilting positive after Josh Green’s 0-for-the-Olympics in Paris. (Dallas sent Green to Charlotte as the matching salary in the deal.)

However, the Mavs’ other moves might have been better. The trade of Hardaway’s $16.2 million salary for Quentin Grimes’ $4.3 million salary set the stage for the Thompson trade and the Naji Marshall signing. The deal only cost them two seconds, and it was critical to keeping the Mavs under the first apron and thus making both the Thompson and Marshall additions cap legal.

Yet even if there were no apron component, this deal would be a win. Yes, Grimes’ knee injury from last season looms as a question mark, but at full strength, he’s a better player than Hardaway at this point in their respective careers. Grimes is a volume 3-point shooter who defends his position and can fit in perfectly as a weakside player while Dončić and Kyrie Irving dominate the ball. He’s also only 24 and a restricted free agent after the season (if the Mavs don’t extend him in October, that is).

Meanwhile, don’t forget that $16.2 million trade exception Dallas took away from this deal. The Mavs are more likely to use it in the 2025 offseason given their position just pennies from the first-apron limit (they can’t go over due to acquiring Thompson and Marshall). However, they project to have enough sub-apron space to utilize most or all of it next summer or could potentially roll it into another, longer-lived exception in a future trade.

(Top photos of Klay Thompson and Tyus Jones: Kavin Mistry, Stacy Revere / Getty Images)

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons plans to keep doing his weekly podcast, “The Edge,” on Bleacher Report this football season and insists it is not a distraction. 

Parsons defended his decision to keep doing the podcast this season in a lengthy justification to reporters after practice on Wednesday amid questions it could create distractions for the team. 

“I don’t think no one really cares about what I’m doing on a Monday afternoon when I’m at home with my kids,” said Parsons. “So why would they care if I’m on Xbox? I think we all get our own free time. When y’all away from here are y’all thinking about me at home? I would hope not.

“I try not to say (anything) controversial but everyone always is gonna be drawn to something. They’re going to try to take one thing. We all have opinions. We’re not going to agree to what everyone says. That’s life.”

Parsons began doing his podcast at the start of last season and did weekly episodes up until the end of the Super Bowl. This year, Parsons was even named the president of Bleacher Report’s Gridiron division, which focuses on the company’s football creative content, in May. 

However, the podcast drew criticism from Parsons’ Cowboys teammate, safety Malik Hooker, on June 27. Hooker criticized Parsons during a podcast appearance of his own, when he was a guest on the “All Facts No Brakes” podcast with former Pro Bowl receiver Keyshawn Johnson. 

“My advice would be for Micah, it would be: Just make sure we’re all right, and being where your feet are,” Hooker said on June 27. “Because if we’re out working, and the run game’s terrible, but you’re doing a podcast every week — and you know the run game is terrible — then what are you really caring about? Are you caring about the crowd that’s watching your podcast, or are you caring about the success of our team, and the Super Bowl that we’re trying to reach?”

JASON KELCE’S SUPER BOWL RING ‘OFFICIALLY GONE’ AFTER CHILI POOL DIVING COMPETITION

Parson responded in a since-deleted post on X. 

“Just wish you said this to me but instead on some podcast!” Parsons wrote. “And you got my number family! And you my locker mate! So you coulda said this any day! And you do realize I shoot the podcast on our off day! Why ain’t we talking about everyone preparations and focus.”

Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, #11, walks on the field during the team’s training camp at River Ridge Playing Fields on July 25, 2024 in Oxnard, California. (Brandon Sloter/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

In his first year as a podcast host, Parsons used the show to speak in an unfiltered fashion about what was going on around the NFL. 

In one episode in September, while discussing the relationship between Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, Parsons encouraged other NFL players to pursue relationships with high-status celebrity women, and specifically named Zendaya as someone they should pursue. He said this despite the fact that Zendaya has been in a long-term relationship with actor Tom Holland since 2021. 

In another episode in November, following a game in which Parsons threw up on the sidelines while playing the Carolina Panthers, Parsons revealed that his teammates had pressured him into overdosing on C4 Energy powder before the game, which caused him chest pain and eventual nausea. 

Tua Tagovailoa, #1 of the Miami Dolphins, throws a pass while pressured by Micah Parsons, #11 of the Dallas Cowboys, during the first quarter at Hard Rock Stadium on Dec. 24, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Stacy Revere/Getty Images)

Now, he goes into the 2024 season with executive-level responsibilities in sports media after a Cowboys training camp marred by on and off-the-field issues, including a holdout by wide receiver CeeDee Lamb and a public spat with owner Jerry Jones over a new contract. Parsons is eligible for a new contract himself, and 2024 is the last base year of his current deal. However, the Cowboys exercised the fifth-year option in April. 

The Cowboys drafted Parsons in the first round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of Penn State. Parsons has been a Pro Bowler and All-Pro while helping lead Dallas to the playoffs in each of his three NFL seasons. However, Dallas has gone 1-3 in the playoffs during that time and has failed to reach the conference championship.  

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For the second time, The Athletic is rolling out its NBA 40 under 40 list. Look around the league and you’ll see how many of its leading faces are successful at such a young age.

The Boston Celtics won the NBA title this season with 36-year-old Joe Mazzulla behind the bench. The NBA’s Coach of the Year was 39-year-old Mark Daigneault from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Four of the last six winners of the Executive of the Year award had been 40 or younger when they won the honors. Front offices seem to be getting younger, and there are a few head coaches in their mid-30s.

This list was compiled after much deliberation and many discussions with sources around the league. It is made up of front-office executives, coaches, league office officials, agents and staffers from the players’ union, as well as others in the NBA orbit. Media (to avoid navel-gazing), public relations officials and active players were excluded. To be eligible, any person considered had to be under 40 as of June. 1, 2024, when this list began to be compiled.

While the inaugural list had several bold-faced names around the league, this one has tried to highlight those who are up-and-coming. They might not be in a position of power yet, or have the final say in their organizations, but they might get to soon. Some you might know; others you should get to know. Some members of the 2022 list — who did not age out — did not make it again. They are no less deserving than the last time but made way for new names and new faces. Others made it back again as their careers continue to flourish.

Cutting the list to 40 was no small feat. The men and women who are on here are there for their intelligence, acumen, success, influence, promise and talent. And there is a lot of competition. While the age has an arbitrary cut-off, so does the number of people mentioned. It could have been much longer.

(The list is presented in alphabetical order.)

Dotun Akinwale, 34, Charlotte Hornets assistant general manager

Akinwale came to the Hornets midway through the season as Jeff Peterson, the franchise’s new head of basketball ops, filled out his staff. Akinwale spent nine seasons in Atlanta, and left there as its vice president of player personnel. He’s now a part of the new braintrust in Charlotte, along with VPs Ryan Gisriel and Patrick Harrell, as the Hornets try to build out of an eight-year playoff drought. “He’s really, really good,” one opposing team’s top decision-maker said.

Brock Aller, 39, New York Knicks VP of basketball and strategic planning

Aller has been a key figure in the Knicks front office as it resurrected a long-stumbling franchise. New York has become one of the smarter organizations in the league since Leon Rose took over as president and Aller has been seen as a key reason behind some shrewd moves. Aller was with the Cleveland Cavaliers before his stint in New York. In Cleveland, he earned the admiration of then-GM David Griffin, who called Aller “a diabolical genius from a cap standpoint.”

Ariana Andonian, 29, Memphis Grizzlies director of player personnel

Andonian has made a steady ascent through the Grizzlies organization after taking a short sabbatical to get her MBA from Duke (she had started her career with the Houston Rockets). Those who worked with her rave about her attention to detail and scouting acumen.

Josh Bartelstein, 35, Phoenix Suns chief executive officer

Bartelstein is the highest-ranking hire made by Mat Ishbia since he took over the franchise last February. The son of high-powered agent Mark Bartelstein, Josh has made a name for himself around the league. He has already made an impact in Phoenix on the business side, helping the Suns become the first NBA team to move their local broadcast from a regional sports network to an over-the-air broadcast channel. He has taken to the job quickly after coming over from the Detroit Pistons last spring, where he served in a role that straddled the business and basketball sides of the franchise.

Kirk Berger, 34, National Basketball Players Association counsel

Berger is part of the NBPA’s small, but strong legal team. He operates as a jack-of-all-trades, including collective bargaining agreement negotiations and, perhaps most prominently, as a consigliere to the league’s player agents, who call him seeking advice in contract negotiations where Berger acts as a resource with his encyclopedic knowledge of the CBA and contracts leaguewide. Other agents still remember the help Berger offered in navigating the jock tax for their players. He has reportedly turned down offers in the past to join a team’s front office. He’s “really, really bright,” one front-office executive said.

Dave Bliss, 38, Oklahoma City Thunder assistant coach

Bliss broke into the NBA when Thunder GM Sam Presti spotted him as a VCU grad assistant, but now he is the lead assistant in Oklahoma City after working his way to front of bench during his second stint with the franchise. He helped the Thunder put together a top-five defense last season, and nearly a top-10 one the year prior despite any rim protectors. With the Thunder set to be one of the best teams in the NBA for years to come, it wouldn’t be surprising if Bliss, deservedly, started getting attention as a potential head coach in the league.

Sam Burum, 35, NBPA deputy general counsel

Burum joined the union in 2022 and has amassed responsibility ever since he was hired from Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. Burum, a 6-foot-8 former Division III basketball player, was a part of the union’s CBA negotiations last year and has his hands in a little bit of everything the union’s legal team does. He was promoted this summer, under new executive director Andre Iguodala, and is now also involved with the NBPA’s dealings with the NBA and league operations.

Mark Daigneault, 39, Thunder head coach

Daigneault has established himself as one of the league’s best head coaches, even as he holds a sub.500 record over his four seasons on the sideline in Oklahoma City. He won the NBA’s Coach of the Year award this past season after finishing second the year before. He has implemented a unique style of play with the Thunder, and those who know speak well of his ability to connect with others and his EQ. LeBron James and JJ Redick are among his fans.

“He’s ridiculous,” Redick said. “He’s so good.”

“He’s on s—,” James responded. “He’s young, too.”

Mark Daigneault (Alonzo Adams / USA TODAY Sports)

Will Dawkins, 38, Washington Wizards general manager

Dawkins is a leading part of the braintrust trying to revitalize the Wizards organization. He took over as GM in 2023 after 15 seasons in Oklahoma City, taking a massive role under Monumental president Michael Winger. The Wizards have taken a long-term approach and Dawkins will try to get to the other side of it and obtain a long-term success the franchise has lacked, after having helped the Thunder in several ways, from talent evaluation to everything else. He and Winger were together in Oklahoma City and Dawkins stood out enough that Winger hired him when he landed in Washington last offseason.

“Will sort of stood out to me as a combination of extraordinary talent, passion for the game, an intellectual curiosity, a work ethic, and I just thought if there was ever a time in my future where I was lucky enough to be in a position to hire folks, Will would be one of the guys that I just want to work with him,” Winger said. Adding, “He’s a pusher. He’s a star.”

Ricki Dean, 34, NBPA senior director of player engagement

Dean is in her second stint with the players union. She spent six years at the NBPA before she left to go work for the Spurs in 2021. She returned to the NBPA the next year under former executive director Tamika Tremaglio. Dean works directly with players in a role that helps them achieve their ambitions off the court and, generally, as an arm of the NBPA accessible to players.

Mujtaba Elgoodah, 30, NBPA special adviser to the executive director

Elgoodah was one of Iguodala’s first hires when he came over to the NBPA last fall. They had gotten to know one another when Elgoodah worked for the Golden State Warriors while Iguodala played there. At the NBPA, Elgoodah works closely with Iguodala on operational decisions regarding the union as the former All-Star has restructured and changed the NBPA in that time. He also works with the NBPA’s engagement team to reach players on the union’s behalf.

Samantha Engelhardt, 35, NBA senior VP of global strategy & business operations

Engelhardt has been at the NBA’s league office for more than eight years and her climb through the organization has taken her to this new role. She was among the high-ranking executives who received a promotion this past winter as the NBA reorients itself in a new media and technology ecosystem. Engelhardt is now leading some of the innovation across the league’s business.

“Throughout her nearly 10 years at the NBA, Samantha has been at the forefront of countless priority projects and initiatives to support the league’s growth and innovation on a global scale,” NBA deputy commissioner Mark Tatum said. “Samantha, who embodies all the qualities of a great colleague, has distinguished herself as a leader within the organization and couldn’t be more deserving of this recognition.”

Patrick Fertitta, 29, Fertitta Entertainment director

Fertitta’s official title hardly explains everything he does for the Rockets. He is involved in the franchise’s day-to-day operations, including on the basketball side working with general manager Rafael Stone as they continue to put the team on the ascent after several years in the lottery. Or as one league insider said of Fertitta, the son of owner Tilman Fertitta, “He’s got all the juice.”

David Fogel, 34, National Basketball Coaches Association executive director

Fogel oversees the NBA Coaches Association, which represents more than 200 active head and assistant coaches across the league, as well as alums. Fogel started there as a law clerk 11 years ago and does some of everything at the association, which advocates on behalf of the coaches to help with their work conditions, their salaries and some of their charitable endeavors.

Makar Gevorkian, 30, Brooklyn Nets VP of Basketball Operations Alignment & Strategic Planning

Gevorkian only joined the Nets organization in 2020; he began his professional career with a law degree from the University of Chicago and was an associate at two white-shoe law firms, only to join the Nets as a basketball operations assistant. He has since climbed the ranks in Brooklyn and was promoted this summer by general manager Sean Marks to a higher-ranking position in the front office running the Nets’ cap strategy planning, as the franchise navigates a new forward-looking path.

Jason Glushon, 39, president and founder Glushon Sports Management

Glushon has had a strong run in recent years, despite being one of the more prominent player agents in the league not attached to a large agency. Glushon worked for seven years at Wasserman before he left that agency to start one of his own in 2016. He represents Jaylen Brown, who signed what was then the largest deal in NBA history last summer, and Jrue Holiday, who signed a $135 million extension with the Celtics in April — along with two other members of the rotation on the Celtics’ title-winning team. Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner, another client, signed a rookie max extension this offseason. Not bad for a former minor league baseball player who made it to Triple-A with the Oakland A’s organization before pivoting his career ambitions.

Jesse Gould, 37, Thunder VP of strategy and analysis

Gould is part of a large and talented Thunder front office but has earned a strong reputation around the league. The Stanford grad has spent 15 seasons in Oklahoma City, including four seasons overseeing its G League team, the Blue, and pro scouting. He’s now on the strategy team for a general manager, Sam Presti, who is always thinking ahead. “He’s a stud,” said an agent who does not represent Gould.

Bryson Graham, 37, New Orleans Pelicans general manager

Graham started as an intern with the Pelicans and has climbed nearly to the top of the basketball operations department. He was promoted to Pelicans GM this summer when Trajan Langdon took over in Detroit, working under EVP of basketball operations David Griffin. The Pelicans have drafted well over the years, an area where Graham has had a good deal of influence.

“Bryson has built a stellar reputation throughout the NBA,” Griffin said when he announced Graham’s promotion. “First and foremost, he is recognized for the strength of his character. His work ethic, basketball acumen, leadership ability and eye for talent have contributed immeasurably to our growth as a franchise.”

Drew Hanlen, 34, Puresweat CEO and basketball skills coach

Hanlen has emerged as one of the more connected people in the NBA thanks to the relationships he has developed and the impressive client list he has built. The former Belmont marksman — he shot 48.2 percent on 3s his senior year — works with Joel Embiid, Jayson Tatum, Tyrese Maxey and Tyrese Haliburton, among others, as a basketball trainer and sounding board. Hanlen has acquired a buy-in from them, honing their games and has found a way to be heard by some of the league’s biggest stars as he travels the country and drops in to help as needed.

Drew Hanlen (Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)

Will Hardy, 36, Utah Jazz head coach

While placed into a long-term rebuild in his first time as a head coach, Hardy has shown he is more than able to handle the job. The Jazz have surprisingly put themselves into playoff contention during both of Hardy’s seasons in Utah, before the organization turned off the thrusters midseason. Hardy put together a top-10 offense in 2022-23, and Lauri Markkanen has flourished during his time playing for him. Hardy should continue to grow in the job as a young Jazz roster does alongside him. He has earned the respect of Spurs coach Gregg Popovich, his former boss in San Antonio.

“He’s ridiculously intelligent and he’s a hard worker,” Popovich said of Hardy last year. “He started out at the bottom in the film room and it was pretty apparent very quickly that he understood everything that we coaches wanted.” He added, “He was a pretty impressive individual from the get-go. So I put him out on the court quickly with the guys and found that he commanded respect very quickly just by being himself and teaching.”

Lindsey Harding, 40, Los Angeles Lakers assistant coach

It’s been a busy spring and summer for Harding. She won the NBA G League Coach of the Year Award in April after leading the Stockton Kings to a league-best 24-10 record; she is the first woman to win that award. Harding interviewed for the Hornets head coaching job this spring. In July, left the Kings to take a job on the Lakers staff. It is just the latest sign of success for Harding after a sterling playing career, where she was the Naismith National Player of the Year at Duke, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 WNBA Draft and a solid player during her professional career.

Mitch Johnson, 37, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach

Johnson has become one of the NBA’s more intriguing up-and-coming coaches. He reportedly interviewed for the Toronto Raptors head coaching job last offseason, and has been linked to others. A former point guard at Stanford, Johnson has spent eight seasons with the Spurs, with four of them on Gregg Popovich’s staff. The Spurs have been an incubator for NBA head coaches, but Johnson could also make sense as Popovich’s eventual successor when (if?) the legendary coach leaves the bench in San Antonio.

Charles Lee, 39, Charlotte Hornets head coach

Lee got a team of his own to run this spring after coming close several times in the past. The Hornets were not only willing to hire him, but waited more than a month for him as he finished off a title run on Joe Mazzulla’s staff in Boston. Lee has been an assistant on two championship teams, Milwaukee in 2021 and last season with the Celtics. He has a compelling story as a former college player at Bucknell who left a job on Wall Street to become a coach and work his way up.

“His tactical skills are great,” Jeff Peterson said. “He’s a champion. He’s won two championships. Which, obviously you can never, you know, there’s a premium on just being a winner, and he has that. And he’s just an amazing teacher and communicator. He’s going to do his best just to get everything he can out of each player.”

Dave Lewin, 37, Celtics assistant general manager

The Massachusetts native has grown up with the Celtics; this is going to be his 13th season with the organization. Lewin, having worked his way up from scouting coordinator, was part of the front office that helped build the new champions. Lewin has been a key part of the Celtics’ scouting apparatus — for instance, he helped point Brad Stevens to Sam Hauser ahead of the 2021 draft — and earned a promotion to his current job title when Stevens took over for Danny Ainge.

Joe Mazzulla, 36, Celtics head coach

Mazzulla was an unexpected pick to be the Celtics head coach when he took over in Sept. 2022 after the team suspended Ime Udoka, but Mazzulla has flourished. The Celtics have won 73.8 percent of their games with him in control and their run to a title this past season was one of the more statistically dominant in recent memory. He inherited a Celtics roster with talent, but Mazzulla has maximized the offense — Boston has finished second and first in offensive rating during his two seasons — and managed to assimilate two new core players this past season without an issue. He’s done it with personality and, occasionally, some out-of-the-box thinking.

“His brain is wired and it’s always on,” Celtics president Brad Stevens said last month. “He isn’t afraid to try things. He isn’t afraid to take a day and not do only basketball related things to make sure that maybe hits a chord with people… I think we all love that about him.”

Kyle McAlarney, 37, and Kieran Piller, 39, Priority Sports agents

McAlarney joined Priority in 2020, and was NBPA certified three years ago, but already works with two of the agency’s recent lottery picks, Zach Edey and Keegan Murray. He’s also hands-on with clients, and gets on the court with them while overseeing Priority’s player development program, a role befitting a former All-Big East guard at Notre Dame. Piller has been with Priority for a decade, with clients that include Herb Jones and Bobby Portis, and also holds considerable responsibilities internally at the company founded by super-agent Mark Bartelstein. The two have a long history together — they were college teammates with the Fighting Irish.

Stephen Mervis, 36, Orlando Magic VP of basketball strategy and evaluation

Mervis joined the Magic a decade ago as an assistant to then-general manager Rob Hennigan; today, he is a vital part of the team’s front office. During his time in Orlando, Mervis has climbed through the organization and now has roles in the scouting process and salary cap strategy. In 2020, he was part of the small team of employees that helped the Magic prepare and get through the bubble. Mervis has also helped grow the Tulane Professional Basketball Negotiation Competition as a mid-season retreat for NBA personnel, and an incubator for front office talent.

“He’s an unbelievable person to have on my team,” Pete D’Alessandro, the Magic’s executive VP of basketball operations, said at the time. “I just can’t say enough about the work he does and the care he takes in doing that work.”

Tori Miller, 33, Hawks VP of player personnel and basketball intelligence

Miller was the first woman to be a G League general manager and has kept climbing in the four years since then. She now holds an elevated role in the Hawks front office after it was reshuffled under GM Landry Fields. Miller started as an intern with the Suns and landed in Atlanta after she spent a season sending scouting reports to NBA teams hoping to land a job, before former Hawks executive Malik Rose brought her to the Hawks’ G League team, which marked the start of a seven-year run with the franchise.

Amber Nichols, 32, Wizards director of amateur evaluation

Nichols has gained a strong reputation in the league during her time with the Wizards. In 2021, she became just the second woman to run a G League team. Nichols has taken that job and run with it; the Go-Go have had a top-four record in the Eastern Conference in each of the last three seasons. She earned a promotion last month to a bigger role in the front office, a sign of how much she is respected by the new Wizards brass after the team let go of several others in the organization.

Amber Nichols (Stephen Gosling / NBAE via Getty Images)

Jeff Peterson, 35, Hornets executive VP of basketball operations

After four-plus seasons as a well-respected executive in Brooklyn, Peterson was hired to run his own team this winter. It was a job he had been building to. Peterson became an assistant general manager in Atlanta at 27, and was a sounding board for Nets GM Sean Marks in Brooklyn, and he kept notes on how he’d run his own team when he got the chance. Peterson has already put together a smart front office in Charlotte and his relationship with Hornets co-owner Rick Schnall goes back a decade when Peterson was in the Hawks front office and Schnall was a minority owner of the franchise.

“Finding Jeff and putting Jeff in this position is just a home run for this franchise,” Schnall said this spring after the Hornets hired him. He added, “Quite frankly it didn’t very long to figure out that Jeff was going to have a great career and be incredibly successful in this line of work or whatever he chose to do. He’s a special, special person.”

JJ Redick, 40, Los Angeles Lakers head coach

Redick was a well-known entity in the NBA before he landed on the sidelines in L.A. but he’ll be in the spotlight next season as he takes control of one of the league’s premier franchises. Redick got the Lakers job without any experience as a coach, which speaks to his basketball IQ and the respect he has earned across the sport, not only after 15 years in the NBA but with his smart media appearances and basketball podcast. He interviewed for the Raptors opening last offseason as well.

“It was just really important to us as we made this hire to find a head coach that could sit across the table from some of the smartest and best players in the world,” Lakers team president Rob Pelinka said in June. “This is the stage for those players to be able to relate to, coach, hold them accountable, lead them, inspire them. And we felt like JJ was very unique in holding all those qualities to do that.”

Matt Riccardi, 38, Dallas Mavericks assistant general manager

It took a while for Riccardi to get into the NBA — he told the Dallas Morning News he was rejected 89 times by NBA teams as he sought a job — but he has become a critical part of the Mavericks front office as they went to the NBA Finals this spring. Riccardi spent 13 seasons with the Brooklyn Nets, including three as their G League GM, before he jumped to Dallas, his hometown, in 2022. Riccardi has earned a reputation as a smart talent evaluator, dating back to his time in Brooklyn, and he’s now worked his way up the organizational chart under GM Nico Harrison.

“I had the opportunity to work with him in Brooklyn, and nothing’s changed,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “He’s about getting better. He’s about helping the team. We’re lucky to have him.”

Onsi Saleh, 38, Hawks assistant general manager

Saleh came over to Atlanta this spring after starting his career with the Spurs and spending three years with the Warriors, where he was heavily involved with the team’s cap management. One Warriors executive said Saleh was their main strategy guy. He also served as a team counsel. Saleh worked as a judicial clerk and at the Louisiana Civil Justice Center before he entered the NBA.

“Onsi has played significant roles with two of the most well-respected organizations in the NBA,” Hawks GM Landry Fields said when Saleh was hired. “In addition to his experience and expertise, we are thrilled to add someone with our shared values to our leadership team.”

Mike Schmitz, 34, Portland Trail Blazers assistant general manager

Schmitz might be the only NBA front office member who took a smaller public profile by joining a team. He spent nearly a decade as one part of the duo that helped build DraftExpress from an independent site to one that took him to Yahoo! and then ESPN. He jumped straight from TV to the Blazers, where he is a vital part of their scouting operation.

“(I) always liked his eye for talent,” Blazers GM Joe Cronin said in 2022. “His motor was always super impressive. Just at every game all across the world, just constantly in the gym. And that’s so important to have that love and passion for the game. Scouting can be really difficult sometimes. It’s a ton of travel, it’s long days, and he just had this energy that I thought was really intriguing.”

Sean Sweeney, 40, Dallas Mavericks assistant coach

Sweeney has seen his public profile lifted up this spring after he was involved in several coaching searches — and a finalist in Detroit— but he had already been seen as one of the league’s best assistants before then. Sweeney is the coordinator behind Dallas’ stout defense and he has earned the trust of its star, Luka Dončić (he’s an assistant on the Slovenian national team). That’s after he worked closely with Giannis Antetokounmpo in Milwaukee.

“He’ll be a head coach soon,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told the New York Post in June.

Jonathan Wallace, 38, Minnesota Timberwolves director of player personnel and Iowa Wolves GM

Wallace didn’t join an NBA front office until 2019, after he had completed a pro career in Europe and then a stint on staff at Georgetown, his alma mater. He spent three years with the Denver Nuggets and then followed Tim Connelly to Minnesota in 2022, where he has been at the helm of the Wolves’ G League team.

“Jon Wallace is a rising star in our industry,” Connelly said when he brought Wallace to Minnesota. “And he’s got a unique understanding of that league as an ex-player.”

Bobby Webster, 39, Toronto Raptors general manager

Webster has been the Raptors GM for seven years now, despite his youth, and has helped navigate the organization to an NBA title in that time. He is seen as one of the league’s brightest executives, even as he sits as the No. 2 in the Raptors organization behind vice chairman and team president Masai Ujiri. Webster worked at the league office as a collective bargaining agreement wonk before he came to Toronto. He is respected enough, and has been successful enough in Toronto, that he should get a chance to run his own team at some point. Ujiri said as much in 2019, after the Raptors’ first NBA title.

“He’s going to head a team, at some point,” Ujiri said years ago. “Hopefully he doesn’t overthrow me.”

Brandon Weems, 38, Cleveland Cavaliers assistant general manager

Weems joined the Cavaliers in 2015 as an amateur scout, after several years as a college assistant, and the hire made headlines because he was a friend and high school teammate of then-Cavs star LeBron James. But James left Cleveland in 2018 and Weems’ profile has kept growing. He was promoted to his current title in 2022 and he oversees the team’s scouting process.

Katelyn Cannella West, 38, NBA VP & assistant general counsel, player matters

West was a critical figure as the NBA negotiated its current collective bargaining agreement, playing an upfront role during talks with the NBPA and in shaping the league’s governing document that will guide it for the rest of this decade, including in writing it. She joined the NBA in 2018 after nearly three years at Skadden Arps, the white-shoe law firm, and has climbed the ranks at the league office.

“Katelyn is an indispensable member of our team who hits every mark – from standout leadership and execution, to skillful problem-solving, communication, and consensus-building,” NBA deputy general counsel Dan Rube said. “We’re especially grateful for the central role Katelyn played in negotiating and implementing the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement, which lays the foundation for the league’s continued growth.”

Ted Wu, 36, Indiana Pacers VP of basketball operations and cap management

Wu has been with the Pacers for four seasons, since the franchise hired him from the NBA’s league office. Wu was a part of the NBA’s salary cap management team and helped in the 2017 CBA negotiations. He’s taken that knowledge with him to Indianapolis, where he is an important part of the franchise’s strategy and team planning as the Pacers have rebuilt themselves on the fly, through shrewd trades for Tyrese Haliburton and Pascal Siakam, and reached the Eastern Conference finals this past spring.

(Illustration: Dan Goldfarb / The Athletic. Photos: Getty; Mike Rasay / David Dow /NBAE, Danielle Parhizkaran/The Boston Globe, Rocky Widner /NBAE)