<center><h1>Trades, All-Stars, and Brawls, What More Could You Want?</h1></center>

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*Welcome back to another edition of Swish Weekly.  This week was all about three things: Trades, Fights, and the All-Star Game.  It's getting to the point in the season where there's a bit of a lull as the trade market has been quietly cool compared to previous years.  The players seem to have taken it upon themselves to manufacture some drama though as we saw more than a few technical fouls and even some near brawls.  The trade market may have cooled off, but the players are still hot.  Let's get right into it.*

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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/1/16/16892432/nba-2018-all-star-game-starters-ballot

**Picking the 2018 All-Star Game Starters - The Ringer - Kevin O'Connor**

The deadline to turn in NBA All-Star Game Ballots was Monday, which means that we will be seeing "official" ballots more and more in the coming weeks.  O'Connor's is solid and I actually agree with a majority of the picks.  You'll just have to read it to find out which.  If you don't already know who made the All-Star team, read this article first and then compare it to the actual lineup.  

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https://twitter.com/nbaontnt/status/953283648865759233

**Twitter Video of the NBA on TNT**

The Rockets-Clippers game Monday was wrought with confrontations and technical fouls.  So much so that it was reported that police presence was requested at Staples Center following the game.  Watching Shaq and Charles Barkley laugh about the entire debacle post-game is the best part of the entire thing though.  

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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22110844/how-cleveland-cavaliers-san-antonio-spurs-handled-trade-demands-worlds-apart

**How Cavs, Spurs handled trade demands by stars is worlds apart - ESPN - Brian Windhorst**

There are few secrets in the NBA these days, and it's no secret that stars Kyrie Irving and LaMarcus Aldridge wanted out of Cleveland and San Antonio respectively, but the way their teams handled their trade demands was vastly different.  San Antonio stood pat and looked inwards to find a solution to their LaMarcus Aldridge issue.  Lo and behold, Aldridge is now playing at an All-Star caliber level with San Antonio.  Cleveland on the other hand looked outwards for a solution and now Kyrie Irving is having an All-Star level season with Boston.  Windhorst's piece details the nuances and radically differing nature of how these situations were handled.

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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/1/17/16899752/cleveland-cavaliers-lebron-james-trade-deadline-deandre-jordan

**A Rational Conversation About the Cavs Falling Apart - The Ringer - Chris Ryan and Justin Verrier**

The Cavs have been on a slide to say the least.  Losing four straight and having lost eight of their last ten has them a mere one game ahead of the Miami Heat for the third spot in the East.  Despite all this, the Cavs are still favored by many to compete against the Warriors for a fourth straight year in the NBA Finals.  This piece from the Ringer breaks down whether or not the Cavs should push their chips to the middle and go all-in on this year, or potentially build for a LeBron-less future in Cleveland.

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http://www.nba.com/magic/news/arron-afflalos-competitive-spirit-helped-spark-teammates

**Arron Afflalo's Competitive Spirit Helped Spark Teammates - Pure Magic (NBA.com Orlando Magic official website) - John Denton**

Arguably the biggest story to come out of this week is the rising tensions between NBA players.  Multiple ejections, a flurry of technicals, and many thousands of dollars in fines were given out this week, but the worst offender might have been Orlando Magic wing Arron Afflalo who took a swing at the head and neck area of Timberwolves forward Nemanja Bjelica.  In this piece, Denton disgracefully defends Afflalo's actions and attempts to rationalize his attack as a boiling over of competitive spirit.  Take a peek at the article and see how ridiculous Denton's argument is.

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https://imgur.com/a/IinNJ

**The Difference Between the Houston Rockets and Everyone Else - Reddit.com/r/NBA - llewellynjean**

These three short graphics show just how far the Rockets have taken their "3's and layups only" strategy.  The Rockets lead the league in total three point attempts by what I would consider to be a country mile, while also shooting the fewest total two point attempts by another country mile.  The Rockets also have by far the closest gap between two-pointers attempted and three-pointers attempted and are the only team to attempt more threes than twos.  It's unreal, but Houston is currently second in the West behind Golden State so clearly something is working for them.

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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22134382/boston-celtics-jayson-tatum-not-your-average-rookie-nba

**'This kid, he's going to be a superstar': Jayson Tatum is no average rookie - ESPN - Chris Forsberg**

This is a fantastic piece by ESPN Staff Writer Chris Forsberg chronicles Jayson Tatum's first forty games in the NBA.  The Celtics traded out of the #1 overall slot in June to move down to #3, but Boston brass always had their eye on Tatum, even prior to his lone year in college.  Tatum has blossomed into a NBA starter and is currently leading the league in three-point shooting percentage at 46%.  Tatum has drawn lofty comparisons, but everyone says the same thing, that Tatum is "not your average rookie."

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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22146666/zach-lowe-10-things-like-including-other-clippers-nba

**Ten things I like and don't like, including the other Clippers - ESPN - Zach Lowe**

Surprisingly enough, Zach Lowe doesn't mention anything about the All-Star starting lineup announcement, but either way, his piece for this week is once again quite solid.  His breakdown of Patty Mills and the man's endless motor is fantastic.  The nuances that Lowe is able to articulate for the casual fan is absolutely incredible and as I've said before, his name will come up often on Swish Weekly.

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https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/1/19/16907426/all-star-reserves-questions

**We Have Our 2018 NBA All-Star Starters.  Now Comes the Hard Part - The Ringer - Jonathan Tjarks**

The final piece of the week comes from The Ringer's Jonathan Tjarks and details the biggest questions when it comes to selecting the reserves for the All-Star game.  The reserves will be announced next Thursday and are chosen by vote of the head coaches.  The West will have more than a few deserving players left off of the roster, but it's difficult to narrow down such a deeply talented conference to just a few top players.  One of the biggest questions, will Damian Lillard be snubbed again, or will this be the year he finally makes it over the hump?  We'll have to wait and see next week.

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Well there you have it.  Another solid week of NBA content has come and gone.  We really hope you enjoyed this weeks edition of Swish Weekly and would love if you could share it with a friend or two.  We would be forever grateful.  If you're looking for more NBA content, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram by searching for "Swish Weekly" on all platforms.  If you or your friends are interested in signing up to receive Swish Weekly directly to your inbox, sign up here: https://mailchi.mp/dfef9429318a/swish-weekly-signup and never worry about missing a beat.

Until next time!
Swish Weekly