#draft-strategy

#draft-strategy

Why the NBA should embrace tanking - The NBA has kate been misguided thinking that fans want to see their teams compete every night with a chance to win. It's never been that way that way. When I got into the nba, they thought they were in the basketball business. They...- Mark Cuban (@mcuban) February 17, 2026

Veterans bring clarity to a defense by being able to be the calming force in a sometimes hectic game. A veteran doesn't have to necessarily be the most vocal, but must let their game speak for itself. That sets the tone for younger players trying to adjust to the NFL. A good free agent pickup can reduce mental mistakes, stabilize alignments, and allow younger players to develop, which is the key to a successful defense.

Now that the 2025 NFL season is over, we're looking ahead at just how much work teams that were left out of the playoffs must do this offseason -- and potentially beyond. Which teams need to tear down and regroup? Which should take a new approach to move toward contender status? Which can be in the mix after only a savvy move or two? And which are already trending in the right direction and could contend sooner rather than later?

The most likely aspect that'll come over for Parker from a schematic standpoint is the two-high safety look. It's a versatile approach that doesn't tip the secondary's plan pre-snap and forces the QB to make post-snap reads as defenders can rotate into all sorts of different coverage looks after the snap in both man and zone. From a coverage standpoint, their most utilized coverage was Cover 3 over the two years Parker coached the Eagles (32.1% on average).

The Nationals are set to hire Justin Horowitz as an assistant general manager, as first reported by Joe Doyle of Over-Slot Baseball. Previously the Pirates' director of amateur scouting, Horowitz will now work under Washington's new president of baseball operations, Paul Toboni. Toboni, like Horowitz, has a background in amateur scouting. In fact, Horowitz worked under Toboni in the Red Sox's amateur scouting department for several years. That's surely no coincidence.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is undeniably awesome. So is Victor Wembanyama. Yet, in a traditional snake draft, getting both is essentially impossible given both are found firmly in the first round. There is a draft format, however, that absolutely allows you to pair SGA and Wemby. Or Nikola Jokic and Stephen Curry, Luka Doncic and Giannis Antetokounmpo... you get the idea. Salary cap drafts afford you the ability to assemble compelling collections of superstars.

The most difficult players to project before an NBA season are the rookies, because so much is based upon how prepared they are for the speed, power and explosiveness of the NBA game. There is no other league in the world that can truly compare with what the young players will face when they make it to the league with Jerry West's silhouette on the logo.