The time for unfettered optimism, wishful thinking, and daydreams that end with confetti falling and championship parades. “This is the year,” you tell yourself. Surely, everything will fall into place. Every free agent signing. Every draft pick. Every extension. Every coaching change. Everything! And so that’s the mentality Sporting News takes into the first weekly power rankings of the 2021-22 season. We’re putting on homer glasses with rosy shades for all 30 teams to spell out the best-case scenario, within reason — if not a little far-fetched!...

Some franchises have had postseason success and are a step away from making an NBA Finals appearance while others are undergoing complete rebuilds. All this will make for some exciting team and individual battles in 2019-20, and here’s what we think you can expect this season. NBA Eastern Conference preview 2019-20 Team on the rise 76ers — Philadelphia was just a few bounces from defeating Toronto and advancing to the Eastern Conference finals last year, and the Sixers made some major moves over the offseason that could help them make the championship series this year....

Whether you’re a #BallIsLife fanatic who can can’t enough hoops or someone who simply needs to take a break from fantasy football prep, Sporting News has you covered with 50 can’t-miss storylines that will define the 2021-22 season. If you missed Part 1 — which included primers on LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic, among others — you can check it out right here. Let’s get after it....

Diallo jumped over Quavo in the final round to edge Dennis Smith Jr. 88-85. Smith failed to convert the first of his two dunks in the round. Diallo also dominated the first round with a pair of perfect 50 scores, including a slam over Shaquille O’Neal and an alley-oop from Russell Westbrook. Miles Bridges and John Collins were eliminated in the first round, receiving 83 and 82 points, respectively, from the judges....

Kanter wore the shoes during Sunday’s game against the Houston Rockets, marking the third time in one week that he wore shoes protesting China. While Kanter did not play in the game, the star center could be seen with the footwear on the bench. The shoes were created by Kanter, who worked with a Shanghai cartoonist, Badiucao, who often creates artistic pieces against the Chinese regime. Kanter’s two other pairs of shoes, worn in previous games, stated “Free Tibet” and “Free Uyghur,” respectively....

But the one thing that really had people talking was the anonymous hotline that people can call if they witness violations of safety protocols. (Per Shams Charania and Sam Amick of The Athletic.) MORE: Damian Lillard willing to take the risk of returning Yes, they’ll be able to snitch if someone isn’t following the rules. Twitter, naturally, had thoughts on which players would most likely tattle. It didn’t take long to form a consensus....

Every once in a while, there is a nuclear trade. Those go beyond the lose-lose type. Those are the trades in which not only do both sides lose, but both sides wind up hobbled as an organization. A swap featuring churlish Spurs star Kawhi Leonard and some financial filler for DeMar DeRozan and some selection of young Raptors (OG Anunoby, Delon Wright, Pascal Siakam, Jakob Poeltl) and future picks would be a nuclear trade....

That’s nothing new. You don’t go to New York as an NBA player these days if wins are what you want. The Knicks have won just one playoff series in 17 years, after all. But even tainted with that failure, players still felt a draw toward New York, still embraced the circus while the team’s record foundered. NBA TRADES: Tracking rumors, deals before the draft and free agency But that’s changed....

The franchise, which hasn’t made the playoffs since its 2011-12 campaign, has one of the league’s worst records at 15-35 and has dropped four of its last five games as it prepares to take on the Wizards on Saturday night. DEVENEY: Will Heat move Whiteside before trade deadline? That means no one’s job is safe. The Athletic’s Michael Scotto reported the Magic could be shopping Aaron Gordon, their leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, on the trade market....

The Athletic’s Marcus Thompson reports McGee could be moved ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline, as the Warriors and Bucks have already had conversations about McGee and Zaza Pachulia. Golden State still holds Pachulia in high regard for his defense and toughness inside, but rookie Jordan Bell essentially checks all the same boxes as McGee, making the soon-to-be 30-year-old expendable — and that’s without mentioning young backup centers like Kevon Looney and Damian Jones, plus the flexibility Steve Kerr has to make variations of the old “Death Lineup” with Draymond Green or Kevin Durant at center....

The two teams last played in the 2010 Champ Sports Bowl with the Wolfpack winning, 23-7. Prior to that meeting, the last time they played was 1979. The Sept. 15, 2018, matchup at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, North Carolina, will be the 11th matchup between the two. The game at West Virginia will be held Sept. 14, 2019. MORE: Best future non-conference matchups | Ranking non-con schedules for 2014...

The organization filed a motion Friday asking the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay an injunction handed down last August by Judge Claudia Wilken. As part of the antitrust lawsuit brought against the NCAA by former UCLA basketball player Ed O’Bannon, Wilken ruled the governing body’s long-standing regulations limiting athlete compensation to tuition, room and board and books constituted an unreasonable restraint of trade. MORE: Best Tar Heels | Greatest Kentucky players | NCAA tweaks selection process...

On Thursday, Stanford basketball coach Ali Kershner posted a series of shocking photos comparing the women’s and men’s weight rooms at the NCAA Tournament. While the men’s weight room featured every piece of equipment imaginable, the women’s weight room—if it can even be called that—consisted of merely six pairs of dumbbells and a stack of yoga mats. After Kershner’s post went viral, amassing over 80k likes and thousands of supportive comments in less than 24 hours, Lynn Holzman, the NCAA Vice President of Women’s Basketball, responded to the controversy on Twitter....

The NCAA released a statement Thursday to announce the heavy punishment, which includes a postseason ban and four years of probation, after Pastner allowed his former friend Ron Bell, former assistant Darryl LaBarrie and former Georgia Tech guard Jarrett Jack to commit rules violations within the program. MORE: Kansas’ Bill Self responds to notice of allegations “Both sets of violations occurred because men’s basketball coaching staff members invited outside individuals into their program,” the NCAA Division I Committee on Infractions said....

The NCAA, apparently, doesn’t care all that much that a national championship-winning quarterback at one of its flagship programs says things out loud like “I’m so happy to be done with the NCAA" less than a month before joining the NFL. MORE: Latest Mock Draft: Three QBs in top 15? So if players like Jones want to go, and the NCAA would rather protect the kingdom it has built at the expense of players like Jones … they need to go, from now on....

There’s the fact UNC is always good. That’s hateable in any sport, in any season. The Tar Heels have six national championships and have reached the Final Four on four occasions since 2008. They won the Atlantic Coast Conference six times in that period. That’s too much excellence for any one program, like the New England Patriots or Real Madrid. There are the uniforms. “If God isn’t a Tar Heel, why did he make the sky Carolina blue?...

In a statement, Cunningham said this: “The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has received a verbal notice of inquiry from the NCAA that it will reopen its 2011 examination of academic irregularities. The NCAA has determined that additional people with information and others who were previously uncooperative might now be willing to speak with the enforcement staff. “Since 2011, the University has conducted and commissioned numerous reviews of this matter and provided the NCAA with updates....

Not a first day you can schedule a game, but an Opening Night like with “Star Wars” or “Hamilton” or even Major League Baseball. NCAA TOURNAMENT BRACKET PROJECTION: Villanova lands No. 1-overall seed Wednesday, the NCAA approved a plan for Division I basketball seasons to begin on the Tuesday preceding the second Friday of November, and ESPN immediately announced it would stage the annual Champions Classic – the doubleheader matching Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and Michigan State – on that date....

When it was my turn to speak, I made one clear request regarding the rules: Leave the game alone. Let it breathe. The rules changes and officiating adjustments made over the past two years appeared to be working as intended and even the rules committee and officials coordinators had indicated upon their adoption it would take at least three years for everything to work as intended. It turns out they listened to me....