Denver Gazette beat writer Vinny Benedetto takes you around the NBA and inside the Nuggets locker room:

NBA Insider

After fixing the All-Star Game, Adam Silver has a few more important questions to answer.

The new format, which pitted two American teams against an international squad in a round-robin tournament with the top two teams meeting in a championship, elevated the level of competitiveness from nonexistent to a middle ground where it was at least worth watching. NBC, which carried the game for the first time since 2002, boasted nearly 9 million viewers, which would make it the most-viewed All-Star Game since 2011.

Now it’s onto bigger issues like expansion, tanking and the NBA’s ongoing investigation into the Clippers. Silver provided updates on all fronts at the commissioner’s annual press conference at All-Star weekend. The Clippers’ potential salary-cap circumvention with Kawhi Leonard was the elephant in the Intuit Dome over the weekend.

“It’s enormously complex,” Silver said of the investigation. “You have a company in bankruptcy. You have thousands of documents, multiple witnesses that have been needed to be interviewed. I will say, just in case anyone is wondering, the fact that All-Star is here this weekend has had no impact on the timeline of the investigation. Our charge to the Wachtell law firm is do the work and then come back and make recommendations to the league office, and that’s where things now stand.”

Seattle and Las Vegas are the favorites for expansion, according to a report last week. Silver had a meeting with Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson earlier this month but cautioned people from reading too much into the development. Relocating a current team is not an option, Silver said.

“My sense is at the March Board of Governors meetings we’ll be having further discussions around an expansion process,” Silver said. “We won’t be voting at the March meeting, but we will likely come out of those meetings ready, prepared to take a next step in terms of potentially talking to interested parties.”

Teams deciding to tank were also a big topic of conversation. The NBA handed out a $500,000 fine to Utah, which has made a habit of sitting key players late in games. Indiana got charged $100,000 for resting Pascal Siakam and others when it was determined they were healthy enough to play. Silver said everything is on the table when it comes to stopping the practice.

“We’ve got to look at some fresh thinking here,” Silver said. “What we’re doing, what we’re seeing right now is not working; there’s no question about it. Yes, is there more I can do? Have I attempted not only to respond to behavior we’ve seen but send a clear message that we’re going to be scrutinizing everything we see going forward? Absolutely. But I don’t think that’s the way to manage this system long-term of, I know it when I see it or people in the league office. It will lead to very unhealthy relationships between us and our teams.”

What I’m Thinking

Another item on the commissioner’s to-do list is figuring out a scheduling solution.

Everyone agrees there are too many back-to-back sets in the schedule. Simply reducing the number of regular-season games is an easy fix, but someone is going to have to eat the lost revenue. Don’t expect players or owners to volunteer for that. Players hoping to break all-time records or reach certain career achievements should also be hesitant to reduce the schedule.

The easiest solution is to reduce the preseason and expand the NBA Cup, while separating it from the NBA regular season. Statistics accrued in the in-season tournament would still count toward players’ career numbers.

Instead of playing the other teams once in the group stage, make it a home-and-home set. That makes it a more legitimate competition instead of the schedule inherently favoring the team that gets the other top teams at home. Separating it from the regular season allows certain teams to prioritize the regular season and playoff positioning. It would allow the younger teams looking to build through the draft to play higher-stakes games without jeopardizing their chances in the lottery. The knockout stages of the NBA Cup should be played the week before the Super Bowl. Teams could still play two additional games against teams that failed to advance to the quarterfinals, bringing the number of regular-season games down to 72.

Most teams play four or five preseason games with only one being anything close to a dress rehearsal. Reducing that number to two or three, while starting training camp a couple of weeks earlier would provide a lot of relief to the schedule makers, who have a near-impossible task.

That job is only going to get more difficult when the league expands and there are two more teams to accommodate. It’s best to get ahead of it and work out any issues ahead of expansion.

What They’re Saying

Spurs center Victor Wembanyama received a lot of credit for bringing some intensity back to the All-Star Game.

“To make it more fun. I think it was pretty good. We got a guy like Kawhi going for 30, making every shot,” Wembanyama explained his goals.

“No, it was a pretty good display of basketball. Better than last year, in my opinion. It was fun.”

Nikola Jokic offered teenagers some advice their parents would hate to hear.

“Have fun and do whatever it feels like you’re doing in that moment,” Jokic said. “I think if you want to ride a bike, ride a bike. If you want to jump off a cliff in the water, jump off a cliff. Just have fun. Try, try everything.”

Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards had some smack to talk to the foreigners after leading Team Stars to the championship of the newly formatted All-Star Game and earning Most Valuable Player honors.

“They say they’re the best players in the world,” Edwards said. “So, beating them is the best feeling in the world.”

What I’m Following

• One of the first dominoes fell on the buyout market when Haywood Highsmith signed with the Suns. Highsmith has yet to play this season after having knee surgery in the summer.
• Stephen Curry committed to participate in next year’s 3-point shootout.
• LeBron James said he hasn’t made a decision on playing beyond this year, while Giannis Antetokounmpo said he was committed to the Bucks during All-Star weekend.