Player Development
December 9, 2024
Last season, I decided to express my interest in player development in writing at a scale I hadn’t reached before. It was difficult to fully explore how stars become stars,…
November 27, 2024
Tracking every block from behind, forced turnover, and (missed) shot contest for Jalen Suggs 18 games into 2024-25 Season If you’ve tuned into an Orlando Magic game recently, noticed Jalen…
November 25, 2024
Our own Charlie Cummings started Swish Theory’s Finding a Role series at the start of last season, the title being self-explanatory: While much of our collective player-analysis brainpower goes into…
November 8, 2024
Nearly a year ago, I wrote about Peyton Watson as an emerging rotation piece for the Denver Nuggets. If you’re not inclined to read it first (though I would highly…
October 24, 2024
Sometimes you need to leave a talented group to shine brightest. When Peter Gabriel left Genesis in 1975, confusion abounded. A highly successful band’s frontman striking out on his own…
October 9, 2024
Star basketball players are often obvious from the get: you have your Victor Wembanyama’s, your Anthony Davis’s, even Nikola Jokic’s, if you’re looking in the right direction. But it’s far…
September 13, 2024
I thought it would be a good exercise (and an easier way to generate new content) to review some of my old reports from nearly 3 years ago to see…
June 9, 2024
Sequels. Everyone’s seen at least one, everyone’s enjoyed the culmination of their favorite characters diving back into their world to achieve a new task, sometimes even exceeding expectations and driving…
February 22, 2024
I will say the two unnameable words around the Golden State Warriors. No, it’s not “fire Kerr”, “trade Klay”, “European bigs” or “affordable housing”. It’s two timelines. We know it…
December 20, 2023
Quality basketball analysis isn’t about being ‘right,’ judging the means by the end result, but we here at Swish Theory are frequently, let’s say, ahead of the curve. Whether it’s…
December 13, 2023
If you know anything about the Boston Celtics’ Sam Hauser, you know what this article will be about. This will be a lot of shooting film, and I’m not talking…
December 5, 2023
Aptronym (noun): a person’s name that is regarded as amusingly appropriate to their occupation. Do you ever feel like names are a form of predestination? It’s astounding how often athletes with a…
November 27, 2023
Basketball in October rarely matters. Except when you’re Jalen Suggs. There was a moment at the end of the third Orlando Magic game of the season versus the Los Angeles…
November 25, 2023
In the Sasser family, basketball isn’t just a means to an end. Basketball is a way of life. Marcus Sasser, the reigning Jerry West Award winner and a consensus All-American,…
November 18, 2023
The Atlanta Hawks lost to the Philadelphia 76ers 126-116 on Friday night in quite ordinary fashion. Atlanta put up an admirable fight consistent with their talent level, but couldn’t sustain…
November 9, 2023
The Denver Nuggets (specifically general manager Calvin Booth) made waves this offseason by being utterly indifferent to Bruce Brown’s exit. This was followed by Vlatko Čančar tearing his left ACL…
August 11, 2023
This current iteration of the Golden State Warriors is loaded with outstanding defenders. Draymond Green has arguably been the preeminent defensive player of the whole league for the past decade….
July 20, 2023
Shooting has a way of presenting itself in the strangest ways. No matter how many indicators we identify and traits we look for, it comes out of left field all…
May 5, 2023
Fast like fox.Strong like bull.Slippery like snake. Paolo Banchero stepped into the league a walking mismatch. A 6’10” 250lb tank in transition and North-South force of nature has the tight…
April 4, 2023
A Development Story from defensive instincts, shooting touch, and two-way versatility to NBA Superstar “A boat’s a boat, but a mystery box could be anything; it could even be a…
March 31, 2023
Everyone has their own pet archetypes of players they target for their platonic ideal of a basketball team, especially as you move beyond the superstars and into role players, with…
March 26, 2023
With Andrew Wiggins bound to miss his 19th straight game tonight, questions abound in Golden State as the playoffs close in. What is going on in his life is clearly…
February 20, 2023
Why the Chicago Bulls owe Patrick Williams a legitimate chance at being more than a role player. In 2020, the Chicago Bulls selected Patrick Williams as the fourth overall pick…
December 31, 2022
Why This Series? When a great player becomes great, there is often the narrative of inevitability tied into the fabric. While there may be some truth to that – no…
November 23, 2022
The Unheralded Heroes of Basketball When focusing on player development, many look at the programs players have been a part of: high schools, colleges, and even NBA teams get critiqued…
October 17, 2022
How some teams have mastered the art of the NBA draft and player development The NBA draft may be over, but for teams across the league, the development process has…