A look around the league and the Web that covers it. It's also important to note that the rotation order and starting nods aren't always listed in order of importance. That's for you, dear reader, to figure out.
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C: Chicago Tribune. Derrick Rose didn't guarantee he'd return this season and he didn't publicly line up behind the Chicago Bulls' stated four-to-six-week timeline for his return from a meniscectomy. That doesn't justify all the angst and anger coming his way, according to K.C. Johnson, who thinks everyone needs to relax just a bit.
PF: The Triangle. Good stuff from Michael Pina on Arron Afflalo, who was brought to Oregon to be a bench-booster but now finds himself asked to be something like a season-saver following his elevation into the Portland Trail Blazers' starting lineup after Wesley Matthews' awful Achilles tear.
SF: The Dream Shake. Terrence Jones has been awfully good on both ends of the court for the Houston Rockets since returning from injury. Is he turning into an All-Star-caliber contributor before our eyes?
SG: Sports on Earth. Brett Koremenos on the flip-side of the Utah Jazz's recent defensive dominance sparked by the frontcourt pairing of Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert — the challenge facing head coach Quin Snyder when it comes to generating consistent offense with two bigs who are neither dominant post players nor reliable floor-spacing shooters.
PG: NBA.com. Scott Howard-Cooper offers an update on several potential rule changes and game tweaks being tried out at the D-League level, some of which we've discussed before (coaches' challenges, advancing the ball past half-court without taking a timeout, players wearing devices that track their movements) and some we have not (headsets for referees, adding a fourth game official).
6th: Mavs Outsider Report. As fashionable, understandable and somewhat accurate as it is to peg the Dallas Mavericks' recent offensive struggles to the stylistic clash between Rajon Rondo and Rick Carlisle's offense, there might be a simpler explanation — maybe Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis are just missing shots they should probably be making.
7th: The Economist. A business-side-focused look at the "Wall Street-isation of the league," laid bare by the changing of the ownership guard in recent years and the shifting nature of approaches to team-building and transactions. Includes the following chill-inspiring quote: "But just because they made a hash of the global economy a few years ago doesn’t mean they’re poised to do the same with basketball."
8th: BBallBreakdown. Jesse Blanchard offers his alternative to increasing the minimum age for entering the NBA draft: introducing a "redshirt" that big-league clubs can use to develop teen prospects in a souped-up D-League without having to start the clock on their NBA service time from the second they're drafted.
9th: MinnPost. The great Britt Robson on how ankle and foot pain has sadly turned Montenegrin mauler Nikola Pekovic into a "deeply sunken cost" for the Minnesota Timberwolves, and what the future outlook for both player and club might look like if the bruising big man can't consistently get his wheels back in working order.
10th: Columbia Journalism Review. An interesting, if sort of inside-baseball-y, consideration of why we don't write about defense as much as we write about offense, and whether that's likely to change.
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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!
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