"The Milwaukee Bucks have revolutionized the way defense is played in the NBA. They take away the rim and force opponents to get the bulk of their offense from the mid-range and behind the 3-point line. They had the NBA’s best defense in the regular season, but surrendered a massive number of 3s along the way to the tune of 37.1 per 100 possessions. As it happens, their second-round matchup in the NBA playoffs, the Miami Heat, might be the best-crafted team to derail their quest to the Finals.

The Heat were just seventh in 3-point attempts, putting up just 35.4 per 100 possessions, but they were prolific in efficiency. They shot 37.9 percent from behind the arc, behind only the Utah Jazz and their 38.0 percent.

In the NBA, scheme matters, but personnel still gets the job done. For the Miami Heat, they’ve definitely got the personnel, and as Hassan Whiteside would say, they’ve got shooters.

The Heat have four players shooting over 40.0 percent from 3-point range, led by Duncan Robinson at 44.6 percent (on an incredible 8.3 attempts per game), Jae Crowder at 44.5 percent (since coming over at the trade deadline from the Memphis Grizzlies), Meyers Leonard at 41.4 percent and Kelly Olynyk at 40.6 percent.

Just outside this most elite of classes are Tyler Herro at 38.9 percent and Goran Dragic at 36.7 percent, and streaky scoring rookie Kendrick Nunn who can fill it up with a volume approach at 35.0 percent."NBA Face Masks & NBA Face Covers

Once the Gordon Hayward shoe dropped, it seemed like all was lost. The Hornets weren’t even willing to play ball on a sign-and-trade. Instead electing to waive and stretch Batum (which would have resulted in $9M in dead money over the course of the next 3 seasons). It was the worst case scenario for the Celtics because their options for adding talent dwindled down to using the full MLE and the bi-annual exception.

It is not as though general manager Mike Kupchak made any significant deals on draft night. All he did was select players in the order that was allotted to him, with the exception of trading for the 42nd pick by giving up a 2024 second-round draft pick.

The next area the Hornets needed to address was their issues at center. While Cody Zeller is a solid worker, they need a rim protector as they gave up the highest field goal percentage in the NBA last season.Houston Rockets Face Masks

Some of the areas the Charlotte Hornets needed to address with the draft.
While the Hornets guard play last season was dynamic with Terry Rozier and DeVonte’ Graham, they are undersized with both players standing only 6’1″. The Toronto Raptors have a similar-sized backcourt but both their players play above their size, the Hornets pair do not.Indiana Pacers Face Masks