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In the November 17 newsletter:
An updated 2020 NBA mock draft from Kevin O'Connor, a look at why it's never been a better time to go undrafted in the NBA, and an excerpt from Melissa Maerz's new Dazed and Confused oral history.

2020 NBA Mock Draft: Updated Projections After Suns, Bucks Trades

Will the Timberwolves or Warriors trade down? Where will LaMelo Ball land? And what will the Celtics and Thunder do with all those picks? Here’s the latest buzz.

[Take a look at the latest mock draft update from Kevin O'Connor.]

There’s Never Been a Better Time to Go Undrafted

Pablo Iglesias

LeBron James was half of the NBA’s most effective two-man combination in the 2019-20 season. This fact surprises no one: He is, after all, the world’s best player.

More surprising, however, is the other half of that duo. When James shared the court with Alex Caruso, who went undrafted in 2016, the Lakers outscored their opponents by 18.6 points per 100 possessions, the best mark out of 864 two-man combinations that played at least 400 minutes. No other teammate in LeBron’s long and storied career—not fellow no. 1 picks, not future Hall of Famers—has formed such an efficient pair.

[Read Zach Kram's piece about how NBA teams are finding value after the draft more than ever before.]

The Queen’s Gambit Is the Grand Master of the Limited Series

Netflix/Ringer illustration

Since its release in late October, The Queen’s Gambit, a seven-episode adaptation of Walter Tevis’s 1983 novel of the same name, has earned glowing critical reviews, snowballing word of mouth momentum, and the no. 1 spot on Netflix. With its sparkling performances from a range of emergent actors and its mix of snappy economy with a lingering eye, the limited series traces the trajectory of a girl who learns to play chess in a 1950s Kentucky orphanage basement and grows up, sort of, into a troubled and globe-trotting phenom throughout the 1960s.

[Read Katie Baker's piece celebrating Scott Frank's The Queen's Gambit, a testament to the limited series form.]

The Hornets Should Not Trade for Russell Westbrook | The Mismatch

Kevin O’Connor and Chris Vernon discuss reports that Russell Westbrook has requested a trade from the Houston Rockets and debate whether or not the Charlotte Hornets should trade for him.

James Harden Wants to Change Teams. Is He Willing to Change His Game?

Getty Images/Ringer illustration

James Harden wants to play with Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn. That seems abundantly clear from the reporting coming out of Houston over the last few days. The question now is whether he’s willing to make the necessary changes to make that kind of superteam work.

[Would joining Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in Brooklyn be a good match for James Harden? Jonathan Tjarks takes a look at the potential deal.]

Dazed and Confused and Hooking Up

Gramercy Pictures/Ringer illustration

People hook up on film sets all the time. That’s what tends to happen when beautiful people leave their boyfriends and girlfriends (or husbands and wives) at home to go on location with other beautiful people and perform a job that requires them to create realistic chemistry with one another.

Hookups likely happened even more often in 1992, when there were fewer legal ramifications to prevent you from making out with your coworkers, and before everyone had cell phones, so actors had to find more creative ways to kill long stretches of downtime.

[Read an exclusive excerpt of Melissa Maerz's Alright, Alright, Alright, a new oral history of Dazed and Confused.]

“I'm going to bed before either of you think up another clever idea to get us killed. Or worse, expelled.”
—Hermione Granger, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

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Join Us for an Updated 2020 NBA Mock Draft

2020 NBA Mock Draft: Updated Projections After Suns, Bucks Trades

There’s Never Been a Better Time to Go Undrafted

The Queen’s Gambit Is the Grand Master of the Limited Series

The Hornets Should Not Trade for Russell Westbrook | The Mismatch

James Harden Wants to Change Teams. Is He Willing to Change His Game?

Dazed and Confused and Hooking Up

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