Good morning, it’s an NBA tanking nightmare!

Jan 21, 2014, 1:11 PM UTC

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Guy Rhodes-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

NIGHTMARES FOR TANKERS: You can lose all you want, but there’s no guarantee the players you desire will be sitting in the front row in June. As such, please note that there are now murmurs that both Joel Embiid and Jabari Parker will stay in school another year. In a great profile by ESPN’s Dana O’Neil, Embiid says he may not be ready for the NBA’s culture and notes that many great NBA bigs stayed in school multiple years.

Meanwhile, Sam Smith reports that NBA executives increasingly expect Jabari Parker to stay at Duke for a second and maybe third season. His Chicago buddy Jahlil Okafor will arrive for 2014-15. That sound you hear is Sam Hinkie praying for Andrew Wiggins to keep the one-and-done dream alive.

RUMORVILLE: The Wizards want Greg Monroe. (Join the club.) Given that he'll be a restricted free agent in July, that's a difficult deal to make in February. But the Pistons are in a bad, bad place right now, and Joe Dumars and Ernie Grunfeld both might be fighting for their jobs. Desperate GMs make desperate deals.

RUMORVILLE II: Jeff Green, anyone?

WELPVILLE I: Beno Udrih has reportedly requested a trade. Beno. Udrih.

WHILE YOU SLEPT: After trailing by as many as 20 in the second half, the Warriors got to within two points of the Pacers in Oakland. But Paul George and crew closed it out to win their fifth straight. They've opened up a 4.5-game lead on the Miami in the East.

KINGS OF NEW YORK: That'd be the Nets, who walloped the Knicks in the Garden. This Carmelo Anthony GIF sums it up pretty thoroughly.

IT'S ANTHONY DAVIS' WORLD: The Brow had 27 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and four steals as the Pelicans snapped an eight-game losing streak and put a dent in the Grizzlies' rise. Memphis wasted a 23-20 night from Zach Randolph.

MORE RESULTS: The Cavaliers found a new way to lose. The Heat's defense has gone off the rails. Taj Gibson scored a game-winner in overtime to beat the Lakers primarily because the timekeeper couldn't bear the thought of a second overtime for these Bulls.

GIANT HAND ALERT: Giannis Antetokounmpo has giants hands.

UNCONVENTIONAL JOURNEY: Sean Highkin has a good piece on Kendall Marshall’s unlikely path to the Lakers.

NEVER NO SHADE: Kobe confirms he won’t play in the 2016 Olympics, throws shade at Pau Gasol’s Spain in the same breath. #KobeSystem

CLASS IN PRO SPORTS: When The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates writes about sports, everyone wins.

Happy Tuesday. See you next time.