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Pick your favorite blockbuster move from the transactional maelstrom we’ve witnessed during this bonkers N.B.A. off-season. Pick any blockbuster.

At least on this scorecard, Monday’s Tim Duncan thunderbolt from the coaching ranks matched it or even topped it.

Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to the Nets? Kemba Walker replacing Irving on the Boston Celtics? D’Angelo Russell winding up with the Golden State Warriors via the same transaction that made Durant a Net? Russell Westbrook reuniting with James Harden on the Houston Rockets?

No joke: The San Antonio Spurs’ abrupt announcement that Duncan has accepted a full-time, on-the-bench role as an assistant coach beside Gregg Popovich had my BlackBerry buzzing as much as any bulletin #thisleague has delivered lately.

In terms of on-court impact, of course, it’s a news item that doesn’t come close to touching what we expect to soon flow from the covert maneuvering that landed Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the same building — with the Los Angeles Clippers — opposite the Los Angeles Lakers’ new star duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Yet the idea of Duncan emerging from three years of relative seclusion to take such a front-facing position at Popovich’s side — in a suit, no less, for 82 games plus the playoffs — prompted a string of accusatory texts from longtime Duncan-watchers who thought I was tweeting April Fools’ Day material on July 22.

“TD hates wearing suits with a passion,” his former teammate Antonio Daniels, now an analyst on New Orleans Pelicans broadcasts, confirmed in an interview.

Above all, though, Duncan still longs to be in the gym — and simply couldn’t stay away.

He has quietly been a frequent presence at the Spurs’ practice facility throughout his retirement, happily tutoring any Spurs big man who wanted the instruction. Those sessions, mind you, were always conducted out of public view — just how Duncan likes it.

That’s the root of the shock factor generated by Duncan’s looming rerun. He has not granted an interview since he abruptlyretired on July 11, 2016 at age 40. Apart from special occasions, like Manu Ginobili’s jersey retirement ceremony in March, we’ve scarcely seen Duncan since hestopped playing.

In consulting multiple former Duncan peers Monday night, I heard echoes of the same shock rattling around my own brain. It would be one thing if No. 21 were accepting an expanded player-development role that didn’t come with the demands of full-time travel. A bench slot, by contrast, represents a significant step up in terms of time commitment, profile and, yes, wardrobe obligations.

Those are the reasons you struggle to remember anyone in South Texas who ever suggested we would someday see Duncan, for all of his basketball genius, in an official coaching capacity. Taking this new job will force Duncan to sacrifice some of the privacy he clearly cherishes.

Yet I also heard more than once in Monday’s conversations that this, amazingly, was Duncan’s idea for the most part. He knew Popovich was struggling to fill the last open spot on his bench staff and made himself available because he sensed that Popovich needed him.

“He loves the game,” Daniels said, explaining why he, for one, wasn’t completely floored that Duncan could be lured back to the grind. “He’s so much different than what people think.”

At this point in his coaching career, Pop is presumably interested far more in camaraderie and personality from his top aides than Xs and Os — or Os and Xs as Pop prefers to call them. He turned 70 in January and, if he’s going to keep doing this, bringing in a player he has loved like a son as a rookie assistant is the sort of thing that could help keep Popovich young.

Popovich, remember, is only the fourth head coach in league history to work beyond his 70th birthday, joining Bill Bertka, Hubie Brown and his N.B.A. mentor Larry Brown in that very select club.

The assistant coaching concept, I’m told, was also broached with Ginobili, who has only been retired for one season and was apparently not quite ready to dive back in. But then Duncan volunteered — and happily took second billing to Will Hardy in the Spurs’ official news release bearing this predictably saucy headline: “Spurs Announce Assistant Coach Updates.”

“It is only fitting, that after I served loyally for 19 years as Tim Duncan’s assistant, that he returns the favor,” Popovich said in a statement.

The veteran Spurs assistant coach Ime Udoka left to take a similar position with the Philadelphia 76ers. The venerable Ettore Messina returned to top-level European basketball by taking over Olimpia Milano in his native Italy. So Popovich, going forward, will be joined on the front row of the Spurs’ bench by Becky Hammon, Hardy and Duncan — with no stated clarity yet on who takes over when Popovich inevitably gets tossed from a game.

Based on seniority, it would be Hammon, which would make for a truly historic occasion. The Spurs, however, were not prepared to verify Monday who would step in for an ejected Pop, preferring to let him address the chain of command when he’s ready.

The more pressing concern for Pop is putting together a U.S. team good enough to win gold at the FIBA World Cup in China from Aug. 31-Sept. 15. It will be his first competition as Team USA head coach — his dream job — but seven of the 20 players invited to training camp in early August in Las Vegas have already pulled out: Anthony Davis, James Harden. Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal, CJ McCollum, Eric Gordon and Tobias Harris.

Yet those are tomorrow’s problems. What’s clear, for now, is that Popovich — as the Spurs continue their recovery from the crushing exit Leonard forced in July 2018 — just made what has to rank as his dream hire when it comes to building a staff. Don’t forget: R.C. Buford, San Antonio’s seen-it-all chief executive officer, once described the five-time championship couple to me as “soul mates.”

On the practice floor, on planes and benches, in calm and heated huddles, at pre- and postgame dinners, Pop and Timmy will be together again.

As predicted by pretty much no one heading into this (still) nutso summer.

The Scoop@TheSteinLine

Amid a flurry of roster withdrawals, at least two NBA All-Stars — Kemba Walker and Khris Middleton — intend to stick with Team USA this summer for the @FIBAWC in China from Aug. 31-Sept. 15, league sources say(July 22)

The NBA Players Association, I’m told, has hired @ORRECO1 as its official bioanalytics provider. The Hawks did as well earlier this month ...here’s our January piece on the Mavs and Knicks trying to improve performance by studying biomarkers (and more)(July 17)

This newsletter is OUR newsletter. So please weigh in with what you’d like to see here. To get your hoops-loving friends and family involved, please forward this email to them so they can jump in the conversation. If you’re not a subscriber, you can sign up here.

Corner Three

You ask; I answer. Every week in this space, I’ll field three questions posed via email atmarcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com. (Please include your first and last name, as well as the city you’re writing in from, and make sure “Corner Three” is in the subject line.)

Q: Losing your point guard in Malcolm Brogdon, who just came off a 50/40/90 season, is maintaining continuity? — @lalala_lakers from Twitter

STEIN: I saw a few protest messages like this one when I featured the Milwaukee Bucks alongside the Denver Nuggets in last week’s newsletter about teams that will start next season with a continuity edge.

I thought this part was also stated fairly clearly, but I guess it bears repeating: Losing ONLY Brogdon, by the standards of the chaotic July we’ve witnessed, essentially qualifies as standing pat.

Throughout its breakout 60-win season in 2018-19, Milwaukee knew it would face a difficult summer no matter what happened in the playoffs, with Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Brogdon all headed for free agency.

Brogdon is a huge loss — just as Bucks General Manager Jon Horst stated in the piece. The regular-season numbers you cited indeed look sparkly: 50.5 percent shooting from the field; 42.6 percent shooting from 3-point range; 92.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

But I’d say Milwaukee coped with the situation as well as possible by retaining Lopez and George Hill, acquiring multiple draft assets in exchange for facilitating Brogdon’s move to the Pacers and filling out the bench with trusted veterans (Robin Lopez, Wes Matthews and, thanks to one more signing after the newsletter published, Kyle Korver).

If you still disagree, perhaps this stat from my NBA.com colleague John Schuhmann will help convince you: Denver and Milwaukee, according to Schuhmann, are two of just four teams whose rosters still include players who accounted for at least 75 percent of last season’s minutes.

Q: Fenway Sports group purchased Liverpool in 2010 and not in 2002 as stated inthe article. — Bardia Khunjush

STEIN: You are absolutely right, Bardia. The Fenway Sports Group took ownership of the Red Sox in 2002, followed by Liverpool in 2010. Sloppy execution on my part.

I must also confess to another turnover last week that no one has even questioned me on.

I mentioned in our previous newsletter that Indiana Pacers Coach Nate McMillan is scheduled to be at U.S.A. Basketball’s training camp in Las Vegas as an assistant to Team USA Coach Gregg Popovich. McMillan actually stepped aside in April because of a scheduling conflict and has been replaced on Popovich’s staff by Atlanta Hawks Coach Lloyd Pierce.

Q: Why hasn’t Jeremy Lin been signed? Maybe he’s just a backup now, but he has been a productive starting point guard for much of his career. — Robert Chen (Taipei)

STEIN: Lin, remember, earned only 27 minutes ofplaying time during Toronto’s entire playoff run — and just one minute during the N.B.A. finals. Those were strong hints Lin would struggle in free agency after the Raptors acquired him in February shortly after trading for Marc Gasol.

The reality is that Lin’s movement, at nearly 31, isn’t what it once was. Teams are unsure if he still has the mobility to play such a demanding position.

Now for the good news: Lin has a lot of experience, as you noted, and sits at the top of the list of unsigned point guards. He might have to wait until the season starts, when an injury inevitably creates a roster opening, but chances are he’ll get another shot somewhere.

You didn’t ask for this part, but here’s a quickie list of some other intriguing free agents who, like Lin, are still available as August approaches: Vince Carter, Jamal Crawford, Pau Gasol, Joakim Noah, Trey Burke, Omri Casspi, Iman Shumpert, Thabo Sefolosha, Jonas Jerebko and J.R. Smith.

Numbers Game

Six of the 15 members selected to last season’s All-N.B.A. squad may have changed teams this off-season, but only one is scheduled to be in U.S.A. Basketball training camp, which opens Aug. 5 in Las Vegas. The recent withdrawals of Houston’s James Harden and Portland’s Damian Lillard have left Boston’s Kemba Walker as the only All-N.B.A. honoree on the roster. (The six, as a reminder, who changed teams this summer: Kevin Durant, Paul George, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Russell Westbrook and Walker.)

Three of the four non-Americans who earned All-N.B.A. status last season are scheduled to play in the FIBA World Cup in China for their respective nations. Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo, France’s Rudy Gobert and Serbia’s Nikola Jokic have committed to their national teams for the Aug. 31-Sept. 15 tournament; Joel Embiid’s Cameroon did not qualify. Embiid, for the record, has yet to represent Cameroon internationally.

In June, Rich Paul of Klutch Sports became only the second agent in the history of Sports Illustrated to appear on the magazine’s cover. The other is the N.F.L. agent Drew Rosenhaus (1996). Paulwas named last week as the new head of sports for United Talent Agency, which has aligned with Paul to establish Klutch as U.T.A.’s sports wing as the representation firm seeks to compete with the existing sports divisions at its biggest rivals in Hollywood: Creative Artists Agency and William Morris Endeavor.

As my good friend @MicahAdams13 notes, only two players in league history have registered ausage ratethat cracked the 40 percent barrier — and they both now play for the same team. An estimated 41.7 percent of Oklahoma City’s possessions during the 2016-17 season resulted in a Russell Westbrook shot, trip to the free-throw line or turnover when Westbrook was in the game. An estimated 40.5 percent of Houston’s plays last season ended with a James Harden shot, trip to the free-throw line or turnover when Harden was in the game. Amid considerable skepticism about the fit, which stems largely from such numbers, Westbrook and Harden will now try to coexist as Rockets teammates.

All but nine of the first 82 home games of Chris Paul’s career were played in Oklahoma City after the New Orleans Hornets, as they were known when Paul was drafted in June 2005, were displaced for much of the next two seasons by Hurricane Katrina. Paul is expected to start the coming season with the Oklahoma City Thunder after the Thunder found no trade market for Paul upon acquiring him, along with four high-quality draft assets, from Houston in exchange for Russell Westbrook.

Hit me up anytime onTwitter (@TheSteinLine) orFacebook (@MarcSteinNBA) orInstagram (@marcsteinnba). Send any other feedback tomarcstein-newsletter@nytimes.com.

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