Tuesday, January 7th, 2020

• Bojan’s gunna Bojan 

• Kevin Love must be a secret Grip reader 

• Phoenix has blown nearly every draft pick this decade 

• A nifty Trae Young highlight

 1. The Lead: Bojan Bogdanović’s remarkable Monday night 

As an Ohio State walk-on from 2006 to 2010, Mark Titus coined and popularized the One Trillion Club.In other words, a statline like this: 

• 1 minute played, 0 points, 0 field goals, 0 field goals attempted, 0 free throws, 0 free throws attempted, 0 offensive rebounds, 0 defensive rebounds, 0 assists, 0 blocks, 0 turnovers, 0 fouls, 0 steals

The numbers spell out one trillion: 1,000,000,000,000Last night, Utah’s Bojan Bogdanović (not Sacramento’s Bogdan Bogdanović) did something less creative and funny, but even more impressive. He stamped his entry into the 350,000 Club, in a win over the Pelicans:

• 35 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 0 blocks, 0 steals

As Slate’s Josh Levin figured out, only Allen Houston has scored more points (37) than Bogdanović while throwing up zeroes in those four categories.And, because two doesn’t make a starting five, we shortened the criteria to the 3,000 Club (30-plus points with zero rebounds and zero assists) to make up an all-time starting five of such games (disclaimer: it’s a small-ball team):

PG: Allen Iverson, 32 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 2/6/2002SG: Allen Houston, 37 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 12/2/2000SF: Reggie Miller, 34 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 4/25/1999PF: George Gervin, 31 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, 3/6/1984Small-ball C: Bojan Bogdanović, 35 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists, yesterday 

 2. Trae Young with the filthy fake pass 

He may be the worst defensive player in the league, but he’s fun to watch on offense. The Nuggets ended up beating the Hawks last night, 123-115, backed by Nikola Jokić's 47 points.

 3. Phoenix’s terrible recent draft history 

Marquese Chriss

Yesterday, forward Marquese Chriss was waived by the Warriors. Chriss is 22 and three and a half years removed from being the eighth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft. The Warriors were his fourth team in four seasons.

His first? The Phoenix Suns, which makes sense, because the Suns’ recent draft history is so, so terrible.

Phoenix actually believed in Chriss so much they made a draft-night trade for him, sending the rights to Bogdan Bogdanović (not the Club 350,000 member) to Sacramento along with two first-rounders and a second-rounder for his rights.

After that investment, Chriss’s time in Phoenix: 

• 154 games, 8.5 points per game, traded to Houston during the 2018 offseason with Brandon Knight for Ryan Anderson and De'Anthony Melton. Anderson and Melton played a combined 65 games for Phoenix. 

Other recent big-time whiffs: 

• 2018: DeAndre Ayton at No. 1 instead of Luka Dončić, which was dumb when it happened

• 2017: Josh Jackson at No. 4; traded to Memphis for nothing, now in the G-League

• 2016: Dragen Bender at No 4; now the 15th man for Milwaukee, averaged 5.4 points for Suns

• 2013: Alex Len at No. 5; now a backup in Atlanta after five mediocre seasons with Phoenix

The good picks: 

• 2015: Devin Booker at No. 15, who hasn’t led the Suns to a season with more than 24 wins

The Suns have also had five coaches in five years. But at least they inspired the best Charles Barkley moment ever. 

 4. Kevin Love: Remorseful 

Yesterday, we went in on Kevin Love for throwing numerous temper tantrums over the weekend, (and throughout the course of the season), and for generally acting like a rich and spoiled doofus.He must have read what we said (we will neither confirm nor deny that Kevin Love is a Grip subscriber), because he owned up to his actions today: 

"I wasn't acting like a 31-year-old; I was acting like a 13-year-old. That was not me."

We agree Kevin Love, we agree.

5.  Quick Hits 

• Markelle Fultz dropped a career-high 25 points last night in a win over the Nets, who have now lost six in a row. 

• The idea to reseed the conference finals, proposed along with the in-season tournament, is unlikely to happen, reports Woj.

• Jaylen Brown, on Isaiah Thomas: “I don’t think I’ll ever be as liked as he was (in Boston).”

• GRAPHIC: Ben Simmons and Josh Richardson react to Joel Embiid’s dislocated finger.

• Dwight Howard news: His contract will become fully guaranteed today. He will be participating in the dunk contest. 

• Rudy Gobert got away with a blatant foul on Brandon Ingram’s potential game-tying lay-up last night.

6.  Off the press

• Ben McLemore: The NBA lottery pick who lost his way, and his road back [ESPN]

• Believe in Giannis Antetokounmpo. But the Milwaukee Bucks? [The New York Times]

7.  Podcast pick

• The Book of Basketball 2.0: Steve Nash on the implications of Game 4 of the 2007 Western Conference semifinals.