First things first, amazing shoe. Pleasantly surprised in ways I didn't expect. As someone who's basically written Nike off for basketball, citing that usually you can get more bang for your buck from other companies, these are the diamond in their lineup and shouldn't be overlooked. Also they look cool as hell.
I play PF in most leagues, and some PG when teams are desperate and wants a pass-first big who can slash into the paint and collapse defenses. I like guard shoes where I feel light on my feet and mobile laterally, but I'm a big guy at 6'4", 240lb so I need some cushion and support. I can still throw down a dunk on a good day (a very good day).
The court I play on is notoriously dusty. At least one person is doing a full Michael Jackson slip out without meaning to, so lately I've been playing in the Serious Player Only Easy Hi's, as they have phenomenal traction and pretty decent cushion. Other shoes I've played in this year: WOW 12, Joker 2, All City 14, Joker 1 GT, SPO Easy HI, Kobe 3 protro low, Harden 10 (spoiler: I like Aja 2 above all these so far).
Cushion: 9/10
Might actually be closer to a 10 imo. For just simple cushlon and a big ole zoom bag in the forefoot, typically I'd think these are nothing special having played in similar setups. I know there are more tech'd out and complex cushion setups for Nike, but this iteration of cushlon is super plush, and that zoom unit feels like zoom turbo with how lively and comfortable it feels in the forefoot. Another thing to note is these are actually a decent weight too. I feel like a lot of shoes sacrifice weight for cushion, and this a great balance of both.
Traction 10/10
I mentioned the court I typically play in is basically dust and a hint of hardwood. I've had to prioritize traction even when I've liked other aspects of other shoes. These things gripped our crappy court and didn't make me worry once about getting traction on hard stops on cuts or planting hard on defense. These also feel tough enough for outdoors. I'm probably going to wait for other colorways and not destroy these.
Lateral stability 7/10
These are not the Ja 3's or GT Cut 3's where you have stability issues, especially as the cushion breaks down, but this is probably my one gripe with the shoe. Felt like these had OK court feel given that there's a decent amount of cushion. Definitely a shoe that doesn't feel oriented towards guards or bigs, but everyone. But there's not real outrigger, and a lot of the containment is due to the uppers and its wider base. I just think if you have ankle issues, these are a bit livelier than some shoes that prioritize feeling planted and stable on the ground.
Fit 10/10
Finally a Nike shoe where I don't feel like it's either a boa constrictor trying to snap the life out of my feet, or shaped like a plastic banana (**cough** GT Cut 4 **cough**). I have normal to wide-ish feet, and TTS fit really nicely. Feels 1/1 without feeling tight like the WOW 12s where you basically feel there's nowhere for your foot to go with the way the uppers hug you. Some people like that, I personally like to not feel like my shoes are attacking my feet for the sake of good lockdown.
Final Verdict
This just feels like a special shoe. I keep saying I was surprised, but I did not think these would feel that good, but these are just fun to play in after a few runs. They didn't take long to break in, and once they did, it's the most fun I've had because of a shoe in a long time.