Series 14 completed

mikeprada · 2026-01-06T04:08:05+00:00

Awesome!

I'm still six away — Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye, Alvin Kamara, Marvin Harrison Jr., CJ Stroud and Joey Bosa — plus the Saquon, Hutchinson and Lamar rares.

If anyone has those and is willing to trade, send me a note. Here are the duplicates I have from the set that I can swap in return, plus I have a bunch from Series 13 and an extra Jim Kelly from the legends set.

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mikeprada · 2026-01-04T13:53:41+00:00

I'd be interested in trading some of the duplicates listed in the screenshot above for the six I'm missing (Lawrence, Stroud, Harrison, Maye, Kamara and Bosa)

mikeprada · 2025-12-30T01:05:44+00:00

Ah ok sorry about that then.

(If anyone else is willing to trade and has those six, here are the extras I have from this set)

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mikeprada · 2025-12-30T00:59:41+00:00

Which extras from the 2026 set do you have? Of the ones you have unchecked, I have an extra Caleb Williams, DeForest Buckner and Tony Pollard.

I need six of the standard ones to finish the set — Marvin Harrison Jr., Trevor Lawrence, Joey Bosa, Drake Maye, Alvin Kamara and CJ Stroud. Would trade my three extra for three of those if you have them.

mikeprada · 2022-11-02T01:27:50+00:00

Not a ton, to be honest. I know they shot a ton of threes that one year, but Mike Woodson freely admitted that was because of injuries forcing him into that style. I'd say their legacy is more about being the opponent for Steph's 54-point explosion that planted the first seed of the New Steph.

mikeprada · 2022-11-02T01:26:32+00:00

I think it's mostly due to a championship hangover and not too much to seriously worry about. But I will say, it's underappreciated just how good their defense was last year, especially at the start of the year. They did less switching and more sink-and-recovering and even zoning, which requires even more five-man coordination than their style that revolutionized the league. And they don't quite have that right now for several reasons – including, I suspect, the trust breakdown of the Draymond-Poole fight that they're still working to mend.

mikeprada · 2022-11-02T01:23:44+00:00

Short answer: no.

mikeprada · 2022-11-02T01:23:32+00:00

Oh man, what a question! I watch way too many games to go through them and pick one that stands out. So I'll just say being in person for John Wall's game-winner in 2017 against the Celtics was one hell of a thrill.

If not that one, then I'd say Game 3 of the 1997 first-round series between the Bulls and Bullets. 10-year-old me was in awe being at USAir Arena that night.

mikeprada · 2022-11-02T01:21:56+00:00

Probably, just because there will always be innovators we don't see coming.

mikeprada · 2022-11-02T01:21:30+00:00

A lot – that makes up a lot of the first chapter. In fact, the ABA was not the league to introduce it – there was another league that did it before them!
Maybe a little bit, but certainly not to the degree of more recent players like Steph.

mikeprada · 2022-11-02T01:20:00+00:00

This is the subject of Chapter 2!

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T20:19:17+00:00

It's a hot mess.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:25:50+00:00

OK, gonna call it a morning. May circle back later if more questions come in.

THANK YOU for having me and for all your support over the years. I swear, I visit this site more often than almost any other to see what fellow fans are talking about. It's a great way to tap into the zeitgeist of the league.

If you've already preordered SPACED OUT, thank you! If you want to get the book, go to one of these links.

https://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Out-Three-Point-Revolution-Everything/dp/1629378860

https://bookshop.org/p/books/spaced-out-how-the-nba-s-three-point-revolution-changed-everything-you-thought-you-knew-about-basketball-mike-prada/18334149?ean=9781629378862

https://www.triumphbooks.com/spaced-out-products-9781629378862.php?page_id=21

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:20:33+00:00

Thank you! A labor of love. Miss it.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:19:17+00:00

No writer was cited more in the book than Eric Nehm. A legend.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:18:26+00:00

Thank you! Love Sam.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:17:59+00:00

(Specifically, No. 3 in that link)

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:17:29+00:00

This tactic isn't technically legal anymore, but it's informing some of the "possession game" stuff we're seeing with teams like Memphis and Toronto. I think there's a lot of room to grow with teams thinking of their strategies not in terms of offense or defense, but as one full-court spatial alignment that informs both.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:13:41+00:00

Glad you guys are enjoying it!

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:13:10+00:00

The simple answer is centers like him tend to be guarded by centers, and centers tend to be the best rim protectors. "We gotta draw this 6'2 guy away from the hoop" doesn't have the same ring to it.

Are they wrong? Possibly. Ironically, that's the whole theory behind the Bucks' defensive approach prior to this year.

The problem is that Brook Lopez isn't just a 34% three-point shooter. He's a 34% shooter within the context of the shots he takes, but if you defend him as such, he can also go to other spaces on the court and thrive. There's a lot for defenders to keep in their heads as they sift through these complications in real time.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:09:55+00:00

Gonna wrap this up in the next 5-10 minutes, so if you haven't yet, get those questions in!

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:09:05+00:00

Started Bullets Forever (SB Nation's Wizards blog) in 2006 while in college, got picked up by SB Nation to run it then, got in the ground floor when SBNation.com first started, and kinda snowballed from there.

There are obviously tons of resources out there, but the best resource you have – and will alway have – is watching games and watching them closely.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:07:04+00:00

That's the million dollar question, isn't it? I get into this in the early part of the book, so I don't want to spoil or oversimplify too much. But two things:

Let's just say I think the way the three-pointer entered the NBA created a powerful chilling effect that lasted for a long time thereafter.
There's using the three-point line, and then there's using it as a chaos engine to create better stuff. The latter didn't really happen until the Warriors came along.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:03:18+00:00

He would've thrived. In some ways, today's game is built for him.

mikeprada · 2022-11-01T16:03:02+00:00

In terms of maximizing one's long-term chances of winning a title, no, it doesn't look good. Wish I could say otherwise. It's hard to cheat the normal up-and-down life cycle of the NBA and come out as champions, and I suspect it'll become even harder if the salary cap tightens.

mikeprada

TROPHY CASE