Basketball is about helping your teammates. Cutting opens up space and teammates.
90 percent of the individual game is played without the ball, so players must become effective without the ball. Great players like Klay Thompson economize on the dribble by getting open off cuts. Also higher points per possession belong to scoring off cuts and through scoring on shots off the catch.
Play purposefully, knowing where not to go also matters.
One of Jay Bilas' Toughness principles is setting up your cut, but that can also include 'running' into the cut off the pass. Here is the cutting excerpt:
Set up your cut: The toughest players make hard cuts, and set up their cuts. Basketball is about deception. Take your defender one way, and then plant the foot opposite of the direction you want to go and cut hard. A hard cut may get you a basket, but it may also get a teammate a basket. If you do not make a hard cut, you will not get anyone open. Setting up your cut, making the proper read of the defense, and making a hard cut require alertness, good conditioning and good concentration. Davidson's Stephen Curry is hardly a physical muscle-man, but he is a tough player because he is in constant motion, he changes speeds, he sets up his cuts, and he cuts hard. Curry is hard to guard, and he is a tough player.
Think "change of direction, change of pace." You can do either or both; you can even walk into a cut.
Read the defenders. They are likely to 'give' you something (see above). Be specific. When overplayed, take the defender higher then go away from the ball (back door, above, left).
Sometimes you go to the defender to get away from the defender (above).
Use "obstacles" to open your path (teammates, other defenders, officials).
Is your defender a head turner? When they lose sight of you, make your cut.
The passer has to see you to complete the action. You can run all over the gym, but you won't get the pass if the ball handler doesn't see you.
"The ball is a camera." You might be OPEN, but the ball has to find you through the traffic.
You can "automate" cuts; if the defender moves above the 'spacing line' (above), then you cut back door and the passer should recognize this.
Real estate is about location, cutting about relocation (relocation, relocation, relocation) to get a better option.
You can cut to score with a basket cut, cut to an open space, or cut and replace yourself or cut to move defenders. Sometimes a cut (above) opens you and moves the defender (above).
I've noticed more NBA teams adopting this action (above), with a 'handback' after a pass, then cutting off the opposite post.
Coaching the Bulls, Tom Thibodeau liked this action, high ball screen with the drive pressuring x4 (4 relocates high for the elbow jumper) and x3 (help off the corner 3).
Put defenders to sleep by doing nothing, then cut hard.
Don't gum up the works. NEVER cut to an occupied post. Do NOT cut and obstruct a driver. Finish your cuts, especially back door. The perfect pass can be a turnover because you deceived the passer.