The Bounce newsletterR | That is The Athletics daily NBA newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Bounce straight to your inbox.

On this day in 1935, Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi. Do you want your mind blown? Basketball legend Hubie Brown was almost 16 months old at the time.

---

First: The showdown between Cavs and Thunder tonight is a rarity

It’s probably been a long time since you’ve seen a duel between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. Maybe since the 2009-10 season, when LeBron James was still trying to drag Boobie Gibson and Jamario Moon to the NBA Finals, when the Thunder won 50 games for the first time with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and, of course, Nenad Krstić.

Well, the Cavs and Thunder play tonight (7 p.m. ET on ESPN or Fubo – try it for free), and to say the least, this game has far more historical significance. Let’s set the stage:

• The Cavs are 31-4 and have a 10-game winning streak. They have the best record and currently have the second-best offensive rating in NBA history, thanks to the tactical prowess and talent maximization of new head coach Kenny Atkinson.
• The Thunder are 30-5 and have a 15-game winning streak. (Technically, they lost a game after the first five of those wins, but it was the NBA Cup Finals that doesn’t factor into the rankings.) In defensive rating, the Thunder are the only team from the last five seasons (since post-pandemic offensive explosion) to finish in the top 200 over the past 20 seasons (when NBA rules changed to increase offense). They are even in 63rd place.

This type of matchup between two teams in the regular season is so successful And This hot almost never happens. According to the NBA, there are some facts to keep in mind:

• It will be the first game ever between teams with a winning streak of at least 10 and 15.
• It will be the third game ever between two teams with double-digit winning streaks and the first since 2000.
• It is the first interconference game in NBA history between teams with a winning percentage of .850 or better at this point in a season or later.
• OKC is 11-0 against the East. Cleveland is 10-0 against the West. It’s a classic fight about giving.

Beyond team records, the NBA gets a chance to highlight some outstanding individual talent. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, Jalen Williams and Darius Garland are All-Star players or better, along with All-Defensive players like Alex Caruso (though he’s out tonight) and Lu Dort, along with a lot important role player. (Not to mention that Chet Holmgren isn’t even back for OKC yet.)

Join us tonight and enjoy the historic showdown. We will definitely talk about it tomorrow.

---

The last 24

Zion returned to judgment

⚜️ He’s back. After missing 27 games with a hamstring strain, Zion Williamson played 28 minutes in the Pelicans’ loss to the Timberwolves last night. How did he fare?

🏀 50-foot winner. Wild conclusion in the Hawks Jazz, with Trae Young as the hero. What a shot!

😬 No. 1 goes down. No. 8 Florida beat Tennessee, the last undefeated team in men’s college basketball, 73-43 last night. It was a historically serious loss.

👀 Underrated NBA Draft prospects. John Hollinger has the names to watch out for, especially as March Madness approaches. Some future pros here.

🏀 NBA promotion. Does the spectator problem depend on how the league is talked about? Maybe it just needs more fighting.

🌍 No Euro NBA? Did this new EuroLeague deal hurt the NBA’s plans across the pond? Mike Vorkunov has the answers.

📺 Big game after Cavs-Thunder. Spurs at Bucks, 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. They get Victor Wembanyama versus Giannis Antetokounmpo. Lots of length, talent, stats and letters in their names.

---

Revisionist list: Updated grades for 5 big offseason moves

We’re now over a week into January, and that means everyone has played about 35 games this season. As we approach the halfway point, it seems like a good time to see how the offseason transactions pan out. We’ll do this a few times over the next week or so, but let’s start with some of the big steps.

1. Paul George to the 76ers: Four years, $212 million. This hasn’t worked so far. PG played 24 of 34 games. His scoring and shooting habits are way down. The team is bad when he’s on the field, but even worse when he’s away, so… progress? The good news is: His defense has been good, and when he’s out there with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, it’s a winning team. But that’s only 10 games. Updated note: C+, but it will improve as they maintain health.

2. Karl-Anthony Towns for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo: The Knicks were successful, Towns replaced Randle. He averages 25.3 points while shooting nearly 66 percent and leads the league in rebounding (14). They kill it with KAT on the floor. Randle’s individual numbers were good for Minnesota, but his impact was not. To make matters worse, DiVincenzo has gone from elite shooter to league average so far. Updated note: A for the Knicks, D+ for the Wolves.

3. Alex Caruso and Isaiah Hartenstein to Thunder: Caruso for Josh Giddey; Hartenstein for three years, $87 million. Caruso, who hasn’t played since Christmas, shot terribly from distance, but otherwise the addition of these two ensured dominance. Giddey has been solid for Chicago but still can’t shoot. Updated note: A+ for OKC, B for Chicago.

4. Klay Thompson to the Mavericks: Three years, $50 million. We expect Klay to be a big improvement for Dallas, but things will be tested as Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić will both be out for a while. Thompson is shooting over 38 percent from distance and the team is great with him on the floor. Updated note: B+, and it gets even better.

5. Chris Paul to Spurs: One year, $11 million. The shooting technique wasn’t great, but CP3 was surgical on the ground. San Antonio is a very good team when he plays and Paul has developed good chemistry with Wemby. This team’s offense falters when CP3 gets off the floor. Updated note: A+ as long as he’s healthy.

---

Three bad offers: Suns, Wolves and Pels are in strange positions

The 2025 trade deadline could be a thriller with guys like Jimmy Butler, Brandon Ingram and maybe even Bradley Beal on the move. There’s also the very sobering possibility that it could be a dud because teams may be playing conservatively in this stupid era of the second frontcourt. However, for fans of drama, there is hope that owners and executives cannot help themselves.

Jon Krawczynski and Will Guillory wrote a great article yesterday about the situations the Timberwolves and Pelicans face with Julius Randle and Ingram, respectively. These teams don’t know what to do with players who probably shouldn’t have future prospects on their rosters.

The Pelicans have been trying to move Ingram, who will be an unrestricted free agent. His lack of availability and his good-but-not-great talent make any potential trade partner cautious about awarding him big money. And the Pelicans need to balance their books and roster with players who can play, so there’s no point in staying long-term.

The Wolves made a bad trade for Randle two days before training camp. It doesn’t fit what they want to do and the biggest advantage they had was financial flexibility under the dreaded second apron. It would be foolish for the Wolves to give him an extension, but they could hang on to him due to a $30.1 million player option for next season. They should focus on retaining Naz Reid when he becomes a free agent this summer. Even if a team wanted to trade for Randle at the deadline, they would likely have to commit long-term money to him.

As for the Suns, Beal reminded everyone this week of the power he holds with his no-trade clause. Mike Budenholzer brought him off the bench to equalize, and it worked: Beal had 25 points as the struggling Suns beat Philadelphia by 10 points on Monday. (Last night, however, Phoenix fell by double digits in Charlotte.) Many people speculated that the move was due to trade rumors or other possibilities surrounding Beal. The 31-year-old guard addressed the media after the Sixers game:

“If (Phoenix is ​​interested in a trade), I need to be approached because I hold the cards. So until I’m spoken to and someone says otherwise, then I’ll be a sun.”

Beal is one of two players in the league with no-trade clauses. (LeBron James is the other.) All those rumors that he might be traded to Miami for Butler? It won’t happen if Beal doesn’t let it. He is worth $50.2 million this season and $53.6 million next season and has a player option of $57.1 million in the 2026-27 season.

In previous CBAs, teams would have thrown money at players now and found out later. You can’t actually do that anymore. Teams need to be smarter about their spending so they aren’t forced to add draft picks to get out of these deals. And even then, we don’t know how the second apron handles these trade values. We may be living in a time where teams are better off letting players go – and other teams are better off trying to sign those players on cheaper terms in the summer.

📫 Do you love The Bounce? Checkout The athlete‘s other newsletters.

(Top photo: Trevor Ruszkowski, Ken Blaze / Imagn Images)