How Sachin Gupta, the Timberwolves new head of basketball operations, taught me that leadership doesn’t always look like we think it does.

How, in an NBA obsessed with long range looks, does the best defense give up the most threes? The answer lies in a subtle but very important change over the last few years of NBA basketball.

How Robert Covington went from waiver-wire castoff to a solid-gold defender.

Want to watch basketball like a coach or scout? Here’s how I learned.

Switching defenses are becoming more popular in the NBA and perhaps no team plays against them more than the Warriors. But Golden State has been able to attack switches in creative ways.

How the Bucks’ defense reveals an underlying strategic tension in the game itself.

It is the most frequent question I get asked: how can I get a job in the NBA? My advice, based on lessons from my story and experience working for teams.

Announcing important changes to Cleaning the Glass: I’ll no longer be writing articles for subscribers—when I have something to say, it will be free to everyone. I’ll be spending most of my t…

When we watch basketball, our tendency is to focus on the ball. Contributor Dylan Murphy reveals an overlooked but important factor we miss when we do that.

Welcome to the next phase of Cleaning the Glass: Insider. What exactly is Insider? And why did I decide to go this route?

What the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference is — and what it is not. On the evolution of a conference and an industry, and the tensions it’s now experiencing.

Why are the rules around NBA free agents and trades so complex? Understanding the what and why of all the terms thrown around this time of year.

Two-for-ones have long been accepted as a key part of smart coaching. But are they really as valuable as we’ve come to believe? Contributor Positive Residual investigates.

Mike Budenholzer was asked about my article on the Bucks’ three-point defense. My thoughts on his response, and what it can teach us about coaching.

Curing what ails the modern NBA — from tanking to superteams — requires changing the rules of the CBA. A proposal for what that would look like.

Contributor Dylan Murphy examines a specific kind of cut that is very effective at opening up teammates. It’s a cut that represents the ongoing Xs and Os chess match between coaches — i…

In my experience, NBA executives tend to fall into two different camps. It’s a distinction that explains a lot about the moves made at this trade deadline.

Lonzo Ball’s rookie year was a disappointment—on offense. But his defense tells a different story.

When non-shooters are on the perimeter, smart defenses ignore them. The recent Warriors-Blazers game shows how elite offenses counter this defense — when they execute.

In the physics of the modern NBA, shooting gravity equals mass. Contributor Ryan Nguyen explores how teams are using shooters as screeners to great effect.

The Kawhi Leonard trade is a deal that makes sense for both teams — if you understand what it says about their goals.

If you’re not thinking about risk when you’re thinking about the draft, you’re missing something key. On Giannis, youth, and uncertainty vs. risk. The third and final part in this three part series…

Breaking down the two biggest surprises of the bubble: The biggest key to the Suns’ future, and some thoughts on a breakout star.

Four players who excelled in plus-minus stats switched teams before last season. What did we learn from their performance?

Something to think about as scouting season gets underway: we all make mistakes in the draft. We shouldn’t run from them, but learn from them.

What seemed like a series made for Hassan Whiteside turned into a disaster. On Whiteside, and what evaluating him can tell us about evaluating big men in general.

Michael Porter Jr. played only 53 minutes in college. Evaluating Porter’s draft prospects requires digging into his play at other levels, and grappling with the right way to think about prosp…

My time working with Terry Stotts taught me a lot about how a coach should interact with stats—and what it means to be a coach in the modern era of the NBA.

San Antonio’s (not so) surprising Hammer action, the craftiness of Marc Gasol, and “weaking” the middle pick-and-roll.

The Gobert + Favors combo wasn’t working for Utah at first — but that story has now flipped. On the cause, a part of the solution, and what it tells us about a question of larger coachi…

The Raptors bench mob has been a large part of what has propelled them to the level of play they’ve been seeking for years. What exactly is it that has made this unit work so well? Contributo…

If I could make one change to the on-court rules, it would be this: let’s end the foul out.

Draft workouts can be a powerful evaluation tool – but they also are uniquely dangerous.

Carmelo Anthony has left the Big Apple and the Knicks are now Kristaps Porzingis’ team. But there’s one important way that Porzingis is following in Anthony’s footsteps — and it’s…

A deep-dive on the Eric Bledsoe trade: the strategic factors in play for both front offices, and an examination of Bledsoe’s value as a player and fit in Milwaukee.

Watch Steven Adams’ unique free throw rebounding, Kelly Olynyk’s deceptiveness, and the art of the stunt.

On Bill Simmons’ podcast, Malcolm Gladwell said that he doesn’t believe there’s “any great predictability” to the draft. Why he’s right – and why he’s wrong. The…

The Blake Griffin trade is unlikely to solve either team’s problems, but that’s less about the trade itself and more about what got them to this point. A front office strategy perspecti…

Mario Hezonja likely won’t be the player the Magic imagined when they drafted him fifth overall, but he could still fill a valuable role with improvement, writes contributor Dylan Murphy.

Knicks’ rookie Mitchell Robinson’s Summer League performance was in some ways jaw-dropping — and in others, head-scratching. Contributor Bjorn Zetterberg takes a look.

Learn even a little bit about Luka Doncic, and it’s easy to believe in his future superstardom. But dig deeper, and there is plenty to study and discuss.

Does the hot hand exist? And if it does, how should coaches and players think about it? A debate with Henry Abbott of TrueHoop.

Scouting beats stats, but scouting plus stats beats anything else. What’s the right way to make front office decisions? There’s actually a science to it. The second in a three part series about the…

The Rockets have been a major surprise on defense, and there may be no player more responsible than Luc Mbah a Moute. Introducing a new feature where I provide the detail behind an intriguing stat.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have the record of a mediocre team but the point differential of a very good one. Which matters more? And what does it tell us about the Thunder’s future?

Steve Clifford has once again completely turned around a team’s defense in his first season. But why did it take so long for things to click this year, and what is behind Orlando’s rece…

Supposedly, crashing the offensive glass requires a tradeoff in transition D. The Thunder beg to differ. Contributor Ryan Nguyen investigates.

What do the numbers tell us about the Kings’ struggles? The first in a series of Cleaning the Glass Stats guides, from contributor Rohit Naimpally.