FiveThirtyEight’s top stories this week

A [FiveThirtyEight]( email [Popular This Week] Sunday, June 25, 2017 [1. Georgia And South Carolina Special Elections: Live Coverage]( [Read more]( [2. The Bulls Made The Right Decision But The Wrong Trade]( CHICAGO — NBA franchises fail all the time in trying to construct a team. On Thursday, the Bulls illustrated that it’s possible to botch the dismantling of one. [Read more]( [3. Why The Georgia Special Election Matters]( The “takes” you’ll read about the special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District on Tuesday night are probably going to be dumb. A close outcome in either direction would be consistent with what we know about the political environment. So if either Democrat Jon Ossoff or Republican Karen Handel wins narrowly, it will be portrayed as a more important predictive signal than it really is. A blowout result would be a bigger deal. But even then, Georgia 6 is a slightly unusual district, and the election would be one data point among many. Georgia isn’t even the only special election on Tuesday; South Carolina’s 5th Congressional District is holding one also. [Read more]( [4. What Went Down In The NBA Draft]( [Read more]( [5. Georgia 6 Is All About The Voters Who Reluctantly Backed Trump]( Why is today’s special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District important? It’s just one race for one House seat, but as my colleague Nate Silver wrote on Monday: [Read more]( [6. Where Can Democrats Win?]( The special election in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District on Tuesday night, where Republican Karen Handel defeated Democrat Jon Ossoff by just under 4 percentage points, will have plenty of near-term consequences. Republicans are in the midst of trying to pass a health care bill, and Handel’s win should give GOP members of Congress a confidence boost. Turnout was high in Georgia 6 — higher than in the 2014 midterms — and Republicans may take away the lesson that they can hold on to red-leaning districts by enacting their agenda and turning out their base, even in places where President Trump isn’t all that popular. Is that conclusion correct? Perhaps not, given the health care bill’s unpopularity. But GOP congressional leaders Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan will take the momentum boost now and deal with the consequences next year. [Read more]( [7. The Knicks Would Be Crazy To Trade Kristaps Porzingis]( New York is not a place where hope lives long. [Read more]( [8. What Makes Markelle Fultz An NBA Draft Favorite]( If early reports turn out to be accurate, Markelle Fultz is headed to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers traded the third pick in this year’s draft and a protected first round pick in either the 2018 or 2019 draft to the Boston Celtics. It’s a mammoth deal for both teams, and it has ramifications for the long-term outlooks of both. But lost in the commotion of assets changing hands and the deal’s implications on other big-ticket trades are the particulars about the player at the heart of the deal: Fultz himself. [Read more]( [9. Fidget Spinners Are Over]( The toy craze that has swept the nation — cheaply manufactured fidget spinners of dubious metallic constitution — is probably on the way out, with the high-water mark of fidget obsession appearing to be about a month behind us and the interest in the glorified ball bearings plateauing or declining. [Read more]( [10. Will The Senate Pass Its Health Care Bill?]( We’ve seen this movie before. Republicans, after a secretive drafting process, finally unveil a health care bill. But the initial reaction is tepid, with both moderate and conservative Republicans expressing “concerns” and demanding changes to the bill. [Read more]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Weekly Listen [Play]( [The Sixers Finally Made A Move To Compete]( Lastly, The Riddler Edited by Oliver Roeder From Colm Kelleher, a small but tricky number square problem: 6 4 7 5 X 12 3 11 16 There is a very specific logic underlying the grid of numbers above, and X is somewhere between 1 and 14. What, specifically, is X? [Solve it!]( [FiveThirtyEight] [View in browser]( [ESPN]( [Unsubscribe]( Our mailing address: FiveThirtyEight, 147 Columbus Avenue, New York, NY 10023.