NBA

The NBA teams making low-key nice teams for the future (and one or two that are not) (Original upload: 15/07/2019)

With summer becoming consumed by boredom, I am going to make an attempt to post on this site again. Additionally, I have missed rambling about the NBA and premier league for the few who enjoy this. Anyway, NBA has been a madness hasn’t it? Plenty of moves, parity restored to the NBA (sort of), superstars switching teams… very interesting indeed. Some teams have made some excellent under-the-radar moves too, which I will hopefully shed some light on now.

INDIANA PACERS

This is a team that has formed a very solid roster. Building on a season that resulted in a playoff appearance, the Pacers’ biggest move was landing free agent guard Malcolm Brogdon. A former rookie of the year, and an efficient scorer and facilitator, this guy is a incredibly solid starter – with star potential if he avoids injury. Especially off the back of Darren Collison retiring, the Pacers have found a very competent replacement.
An important factor that a lot of people fail to remember is that their all-star Victor Oladipo is returning from injury this coming season. If he can return to pre-injury, all star level, their team is very nice.
I even rate their free agent pick-ups such as TJ McConnell. He is a tryer, and a very solid back-up PG who was a fan favourite in Philly. In addition, picking up TJ Warren (who was regularly putting up 20+ points for Phoenix) for cash is a sweet sweet move. I’m fuming at my Suns for getting literally nothing in return for the guy who was our second-best player last season. Starting or off the bench for the Pacers, Warren will be useful for them for sure.

 

ATLANTA HAWKS

One for the future here, where I could end up being very wrong, and whose record this coming season may not reflect their potential. The tidy plays that Atlanta made start with the draft. Trading up to get De’Andre Hunter and getting Cam Reddish at #10 is a steal, and I like both of those moves. Their young duo of Trae Young and John Collins are only going to get better too. Everyone knows the standout young cores (e.g. Pelicans, Celtics etc.) but this Hawks team could be nice. Some of their free agency moves have been niche, such as Evan Turner, Solomon Hill, Chandler Parsons and their large contracts, but I appreciate that these have been moves that have given them back some assets too. Jabari Parker signing to their team is interesting; the contract is relatively cheap and I feel he has loads of potential, but his injury history means I am apprehensive as to how much he will bring to this team. He could be a useful sixth man though.

 

NEW ORLEANS PELAKERS

NOLA are actually a team that high-key are looking good on paper, but some of their less notable moves (i.e. moves not related to the Anthony Davis trade) are also exciting. Looking at the AD trade pieces first though, Lonzo, Ingram and Hart are all more than capable players with great upside – if they can avoid injury. The move I like from free agency is the signing of JJ Redick – the man is a sniper; a excellent injection of instant offense on any team. Derrick Favors at PF is not a bad pickup either. I mean he’s obviously not on the same planet talent-wise compared to Anthony Davis, but he is a reliable PF for them to utilise amongst their rookies and young guns.

How could we forget about Zion too? Their “showtime” player, the #1 pick in this year’s draft may finally bring sold-out games to the Pelicans’ arena. I am intrigued to see how his game stacks up playing against NBA athletes. I have no doubt that he is going to be super entertaining to watch, and I cant wait to watch some Pels games this season.

 

A few teams I have low expectations for…

PHOENIX SUNS

Just a reminder above of when Pheonix were relevant. Nash left in 2012, so that’s seven years of nothing. Oh, Phoenix. We tanked all year for Zion to end up drafting Cameron Johnson, who is a year older than Devin Booker btw, and Dario Saric. Woo. One thing I will say is that at least they haven’t overpaid any free agents, so that’s a positive. Booker and Ayton could even look pretty good together! But in the west, with all the superstar duos, Phoenix are not going to make the playoffs save for a miracle. I’m still salty that we let TJ Warren go for a bag of chips too. Another year of irrelevance awaits. For my own sake I hope the Bulls can improve next season otherwise it is going to be a drag.

WASHINGTON WIZARDS

I just feel like this team is the definition of ‘meh’. The fact that it sounds like they will be trading Bradley Beal also means this team is only going to get worse. John Wall is still not healthy, who knows when the hell he’ll be on the court again. They have some semi-decent role players, but no reason for anyone to be excited. Maybe Isaiah Thomas can resurrect his career there? I honestly have nothing else to say about them. Meh.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS

Charlotte, the home of horrific contracts. Do you know they are paying Nic Batum over $25 million this coming season? Bismack Biyombo $17 million? Marvin Williams $15 million? What the hell is that? That is so much money to players that COMBINE for 23.7 points per game. And to top it off, Terry Rozier for what $58 milliion over 3 three years. I like Terry Rozier, he balled out for the Celtics when Kyrie was injured, but he is not an efficient player. Furthermore, looking at other starting point guards in the league for comparison, he is nowhere near the best realistically. Maybe by the end of the season, with the control of his own offense, scary Terry will look like a bargain on that contract. I hope he’s ready to score because there is not a lot of offense on that roster. Young players like Malik Monk and Miles Bridges provide a little bit of excitement and offense, but they will be in the dunk contest rather than the All-star game. The Hornets are just kinda stuck in a rut which they can’t get out of. Maybe they can tank for a couple (more) seasons and get a high draft pick. Being on the peripherals of the playoffs and getting nowhere near contending is not the place any team wants to be in.

 

In sum, it has been a crazy offseason for superstar moves, but the smaller markets are also shaking up their rosters, for better or worse. Hopefully I will have some football post ready at some point in the near future, where I’ll see how bad I am at predicting the premier league (again).

Hope you enjoyed!

Mild surprises from the 2018/19 NBA season so far (Original upload: 19/12/2018)

APOLOGIES: I have not written anything for ages. Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to search and write a new post during my first term back at uni. Hopefully there will be two or three over the festive break. Anyway, let’s get into it.

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The 2018/19 NBA season has had an arguably surprising start. Let me put it this way; if I was a betting man, I would not have put money on Denver and Toronto to be leading the conferences after thirty games. Besides this, there have been numerous teams and players who have performed in an unexpected manner.

No.1: Firstly, Sacramento aren’t trash!
Far from it in fact. The Kings currently sit 8th in the West on a 16-14 record. This is undoubtedly a massive improvement on, well, any showing from this franchise in the last ten years. For reference, in the 17/18 season the Kings went 27-55; they are over halfway to beating their win record from last season, and we’re only 30 games into this one!
This isn’t the only good news for the team. They have also got younger and faster. Top scorer for Sacramento in 2017/18 was veteran Zach Randolph. This season the team is lead by Buddy Hield (25 years old) and De’Aaron Fox (20 years old). Furthermore, they have gone from 30th in game pace to 2nd in the league for the same stat. Although they will most likely miss the playoffs in the stacked west, the Kings no longer look like a waste bin for early draft picks and overpaid veterans. Maybe they are forming an exciting team in the mould of the 2001 Kings of Webber, Stojakovic, Williams and Bibby (look up 2001 Kings highlights and prepare to be entertained, trust me).

No.2: Blake Griffin isn’t trash!
Settling into his first full season in Detroit, Griffin has established himself as the clear leader of the team, and arguably a top 10 player in the Eastern Conference. Blake is actually averaging a career-high 25 points per game at the moment, to go along with 9 rebounds and 5 assists- a great stat-line for a front-court player. Although defensively he may not be elite, and his freakish athleticism has been partially restricted  by injuries, it looks like Griffin is returning to All-star level play. As things stand, I would give him a vote for sure. It is just a shame that the Pistons’ record doesn’t reflect his level of play- but they are still in the playoff positions. 

No.3: What is happening to Utah?
JUST SAYING: This could very much be an overreaction. Personally, the fact that Utah are second bottom in the Western conference after 30 games concerns me. This is a team that I thought would be a lock to make the playoffs, as defensively they seemed so strong, with defensive player of the year anchor Gobert and a young star in Donovan Mitchell. Looking back on their schedule so far, they have had a tough fixture set, but they could still easily have a record over .500.
Maybe Donovan Mitchell hasn’t quite taken the step up they expected (his numbers are basically the same statistically) or maybe they have had some bad luck. All I know is I wouldn’t have expected them to be this low this far into the season. I also may be click-baiting you; they are 2.5 games behind being in the playoff positions, so they still have time to salvage their season. That is not a lot of games to make up too. They’re also still much better than the Suns, who with this sentence have already taken far too much of my time up with their disappointing play.

No.4: The Nuggets are top of the West (!!!)
The scary part about this team is that they have Isaiah Thomas (an MVP candidate two years ago) and Michael Porter Jr (a kid slated to be drafted #1 if it wasn’t for a back injury) to return. The Nuggets currently sit top of the loaded Western Conference, half a game ahead of the Golden State Warriors. They have also beaten the Celtics and Raptors, the two top teams in the East, and the Lakers, Trailblazers, and Warriors along the way. All this behind a seven-foot big man who can barely jump. But seriously, Nikola Jokic (the big man who can’t jump) is leading the Nuggets in points, rebounds, assists and steals. The man is on a tear, and he better make the All-star teams.
But this isn’t to say that he is carrying this team on his own. The Nuggets have a deep roster. They have four players averaging 15+ points per game, which goes up to seven if you look at averaging 10+ points per game. The Nuggets are a balanced scoring machine, while also being top 10 in defensive efficiency. They should make the playoffs, and it will be great to see what upsets they can pull off. But with all this considered, will they really be upsets at all?

I hope this isn’t too painful to read, and maybe uncovered some surprising facts about the NBA this season.
Hope you enjoyed!

NBA thoughts: Who is the new King of the East? (Original upload: 05/08/2018)

The Lebron era in the eastern conference is finally over. So, who’s got next? The east is filled with young talent, and we are basically guaranteed to see a different team in the finals- meaning the east is wide open for the first time in years.

This does make it sound like Lebron had a cake-walk every year in the east which isn’t necessarily the case. It has been easier in his second stint as a cavalier, but with the Heat he had to beat a great (but ageing) big three in Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, with a rising Rajon Rondo. There was also the Howard-led Orlando Magic side who were not bad by any stretch of the imagination. Not to forget the Chicago Bulls teams with Derrick Rose still looking elite (sad times), a young Jimmy  Butler, and Joakim Noah before he turned into trash. Anyway, who will take over his throne?

The first person that came to mind is KAWHI LEONARD. Arguably already a top 5 player in the league, and being traded to a strong Raptors team, I see no reason why he couldn’t be the star of the east leading his team to the finals. That’s if he plays of course. I really don’t see him as the long term King of the east, as he is desperate to get to LA so will surely be a one year rental for Toronto. We will have to see.

A lot of people’s choice for Lebron’s successor is GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO (and his long-ass surname, I think I’ll just call him Giannis). The guy is an athletic freak, and has shown significant improvement with every season he has played. His stats are reaching superstar levels-but can he lead a team to success? In the past season’s playoffs he had a chance to beat an injury-hit Celtics team, but was unable to capitalize on it. Also, his outside game (attempts just under 2 3-pointers a game at 30%) could be improved, as in if he adds that to his repetoire he is completely unplayable. Giannis is still young, developing, and I see no reason why he won’t be dominating games and playoff series in the future. Now on to another candidate…

Kyrie Irving wanted to be the leader of a team, and what a job he was doing before he went down with injury. That Celtics team had a crazy win streak (18 or so games?) at the start of the season under his court leadership. I love watching Kyrie play, his handles are the best in the league and its not even close, his athleticism finishing under the rim makes every shot so easy no matter how crazy the angle. He’s just so smooth to watch play. Heading into next season he will lead what is arguably the best team in the conference, so he could easily be the next guy for years, especially with the young roster. However, this team strength may end up diminishing the eliteness of his game, as in it may take away from his personal achievements. In addition, will Kyrie, as one of the main ballhandlers on the team, be able to facilitate such a loaded team? His assist averages are relatively low for a point guard, although i know his style is obviously not being a pass first point. But, now he doesn’t have a brilliant floor general in Lebron next to him, can he successfully run an offense? We will see.

A fourth option is young, but scary as hell on a court; JOEL EMBIID, despite his injury history, is easily a top 5 center in the league. His post-game and footwork is exceptional, his rebounding is excellent (11rpg last season), and his ability to stretch the floor (31% from 3) is very solid for a big man. Embiid also has excellent defensive ability, exemplified by his Defensive Player of the Year nomination. He still needs consistency to prove his superstardom, through his ability and also team success. I think he is legit, and to me only injuries will stop him from terrorizing big men for many years in the NBA. Also, he’s pretty funny to watch too. Thankfully shows a personality on the court-that’s pretty rare nowadays.

These last two picks are very longgggg term, as they were both rookies (ish) last season. BEN SIMMONS has the court vision like few others in the league, freakish athleticism for the positon he (vaguely) plays, and is wildly considered a future superstar. If he could get a jump shot, like ANYTHING consistent from beyond 15ft from the rim, he would be unguardable. Just imagine, Ben Simmons hitting consistent threes, finding teammates out of double teams, bullying anyone down in the post… it would be unfair on the rest of the teams in the league. That is just a ‘what if’ for now though…

(Simmons also scored one point in a play off game. No relevance to this post, just funny)

JAYSON TATUM. I think he is the best player from the 2017 draft, and will turn out better than Ben Simmons. He is built for the modern league, with his length, shooting ability and ever improving defense. He shot 43% from 3, which is absolute madness from a rookie. Can create his own shot, great handles;he has the ability to become the face of the celtics (when Kyrie leaves), and could set his team up for years of battles against Embiid, Simmons and the 76ers for the Eastern conference crown.

I’m certain there are more players that could fit on this list (Porzingis, Oladipo, Hayward, Kemba) but I think this post is too long already. If I had to pick a player to take over the east, I would go with Embiid. His team is ready to be a leader in the Eastern conference, or at least compete at the top- just PLEASE don’t get injured.

Hope you enjoyed!