What is Cracklac and fellow thereon lear A efforts, I am Damn Valley coming
at you with a solo podcast. We are going to do updated win lost
projections for every NBA team following the NBA in season tournament. Congratulations to the
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updated win loss projections for every NBA team. So let's start look at that
authored by me, updated win projections for every NBA team after the in season
tournament. What a great author really excited to go through this person's article in
Lantahawks forty one and forty one. They're actually on a worse pace than this,
And you know, I don't think people are gonna want to bump them
up for the most part when you have watched them. I think that's fair.
There have been some bright spots, the fact that they're fifth or in
the top five of offense when Trey Young hasn't been shooting too well. Dejontai
Murray's been really good as a score even though it's defense feels like it's regressed.
And then Jalen Johnson before the injury, was headlining the most improved player
discussion. He was certainly among the primary names in there. When you just
look at this team, though I don't know how they get better as currently
constructed. The only real bright spots on defense are they forced turnovers and they're
not really fouling a lot relative to those turnovers. They're not a good defensive
team. They don't have the personnel to be better. They're interested in Pascal
Siakam. I like the offensive fit in Atlanta just fine. But if you're
keeping Murray and Trey, you're adding another ball dominant guy who's not been shooting
well from three, and I don't know how much he actually improves your defense,
whether you're using him at the five, whether you're playing him next to
Jalen Johnson, or you're trying to play him next to a congou Or or
Capella. This team feels like it needs a trade, like kind of a
mega trade that really nudges their defense in the right direction. The Boston Celtics
sixty wins, and this might be just a little too conservative because they've just
they're just the machine and the offense can get a little sticky at points.
There are Knights when Drew Holliday, Jaylen Brown, even Jason Tatum go through
this just wonky decision making. They're just a defensive terror, though when you
look at how they're built to defend, there could be some injury issues here.
Porzingis has already missed some time. Al Horford is thirty seven. But
the Celtics, even if you don't like the way their offense looks, this
is a team that is elite at both ends of the floor, and they
just have the space to kind of offset a lot of the playmaking deficits that
they have. We'll see if this comes back to bite them in the playoffs,
but for the regular season specifically, keeping them at sixty might almost just
be too much, too little, excuse me, like they could easily win
more than that the nets. I'm gonna go with forty three and thirty nine
here. I did not expect the offense to be this good. Lonnie Walker
the fourth hitting a bunch off the dribble jumpers before he gets injured. Cam
Thomas has been lights out just from sort of those in between ranges. Mcal
Bridges has come along, Cameron Johnson's playing well, Dorrin Finney Smith is having
one of his better offensive seas Spencer Dinwoodie by the numbers has been one of
the best one on one scores in the league too. And I think because
you know, you still look at them and it's, oh, do they
have enough playmaking? They have enough shot making and they can run a bunch
of these spacey lineups that are gonna offset, similar to the Celtics that are
gonna offset any playmaking deficit and help them in the half court. The question
with them, ironically, is just how the defense holds up when you're gonna
rely on Lonnie Walker or Cam Thomas. Things could get dicey there. Nick
Klaxton missing a ton of time probably doesn't help them, didn't help them.
Now that he's back, we could see some normalization there. That being said,
this is perhaps a team that needs to acquire some heft on the front
line if it really wants to beef up its immediate window. And I wouldn't
expect them to. They're kind of in They're not necessarily in win now.
They're more and they're not in you know, sit, let's see what we
have here mode. But they're kind of in between, and so that's a
solid spot to be relative to the pick equity they have moving forward if they
want to make adjustments over the offseason. The Charlotte Hornets twenty four and fifty
eight had them higher, but the wins they got to come from, they
got to come from somewhere in this exercise, and so you start after the
initial runthroughs, and I think I mentioned this specifically with the Blazers. When
I get to them, you start pulling away from certain teams, and the
Hornets were among the low hanging fruit. LaMelo's injured right now, the same
surgically repaired ankle that he the same ankle he had surgically repaired. I think
it was last March. The defense has been really bad, and Brandon Miller,
relying on a rookie has not really been a part of that. He's
been one of their brighter spots defensively. Mark Williams looks over taxed. I
think this team eventually just gets to a point where, well, are the
bodies available, but also are they gonna kind of flip that switch think more
about the future. Move Gordon Hayward, maybe move Terry Rozier. They're not
a good basketball team anyway. If you told me that they don't make any
moves and that LaMelo's gonna, you know, still make kid to sixty games
or something, I think you can bump up this win total, but I'm
not about to do it. The team has just not impressed me. Speaking
of teams that have not impressed me, the Bulls, I don't have any
idea what to do with them. In Zach Levine's first few games out,
they've looked pluckier. They beat Milwaukee, they beat New Orleans. Demarta Rosen
was not available for that Milwaukee win either. There's there's real impact on the
defensive end. They can still force turnovers. When you're looking at Javon Carter,
iod As soon move Alex Caruso. Of course, even Patrick Williams has
come along there. The Bulls we know were shopping Levine. There's also been
the report that Demarta Rosen trade is likely because the sides are so far apart
in extension talks. I could see the Bulls and this would bump up their
win total viewing zach Levine's absence and trying to move him for depth pieces or
as part of a not a consolidation trade, but a trade that gets them
maybe two guys who are gonna help them right away and they're not prioritizing necessarily
picks in prospects. If they start to play really well without Zach Levine,
that's absolutely something this franchise would do. I still think when we get to
December fifteenth, maybe by January fifteenth, when a lot of other players can
be traded. This team will finally, at long last make some seismic selling
moves well in advance of the trade deadline. I don't don't. I don't
personally expect this to linger until February, although it could. The calves.
I know a lot of people are down on the calves right now. Let's
just see them get healthy. We haven't seen Mobi, Mitchell, Garland,
Allen and Shrew's log a ton of time together. I will admit the offense
has been very wonky during those stretches. They're not taking enough threes, They're
not making their above the break threes. Darius Garland really hasn't come on from
the perimeter just yet. He's also committed a bunch of turnovers. He's looked
off a lot. That dynamic with Mitchell and Garland it's still just weird,
and so is the dynamic between Allen and MOBLEI. It can be weird,
inconsistent. They will do some big to big stuff, but probably not in
high enough volume. I still look at this team and as you get you
know, Carislvert still working his way back from injury, and we've seen his
performance slip from where it was pre injury, Isaaco Korro dealing with injuries.
I still think if you give this team time, they're going to be one
of the most elite squads in the Eastern Conference, and that the offense will
start to look a lot better with all five of their best players on the
court. And I also you have to tip the cap to what Max Drews
has done for this team, not just beyond the arc, but inside it.
His movement, his playmaking. It's it's been big for them, Dallas
forty five and thirty seven. This feels I'm lowering them off their current pace.
And we know the Kyrie injury isn't serious, which is great, great
news for them, But they started out like gangbusters, they've kind of faded.
Grant Williams is dealing with an injury. Max and Cleeb was barely played
this season, and he remains incredibly important to kind of getting two or unlocking
what should be some of their most important lineups. The defense is an issue
here and I don't know what to make of it. Derek Lively has played
really well, the mass rim protection is still shaky Patrick when he's off the
floor. They are starting Derek Jones Junior, and he has played well.
He's hitting his threes this season, but that's starting units a net negative overall,
because when you have Derek Jones Junior on the court, defenses still don't
care. They'll let him shoot forty plus percent a moderate volume if it means
that they're going to be able to close in, pack the paint, throw
more bodies at Kyrie and Lugadancic, and so that group's half court offensive rating
is actually below average. And so this team just feels like they are still
a player archetype or two away from contention, and those player archetypes are not
on the roster. To me, it feels like at least they need one
real wing or more point of attack defender. Josh Green is injured right now
and he's been fairly disappointing as well. Still a very good team, but
I just if you're asking me whether I think the Mavericks can win a playoff
series if they get there, I don't. I'll never just say Luca can't
do it, because Luca has had some spectacular performances in the playoffs. But
they just still feel a significant player short is probably the best way to phrase
it. More than one player, but it could be one significant player the
Nuggets. Look, they can't beat the Rockets apparently, which is that's a
little bit weird. They're just they're chugging along. They're on pace for more
than fifty victories. They do have their fourth in points allowed per possession against
top ten offenses, so that's a big deal this season. They have that
defensive gear. Murray hasn't really been great this year. He's still coming back
from that hamstring stuff. I expect him to be fine. Jokich is probably
the favorite to win MVP as of now, even though he kind of turned
into non Jokic games in a row. Aaron Gorn's three point shooting is a
problem, but you're getting really good minutes from Reggie Jackson. Christian Brown is
starting to perk up. I think you've run into a good problem with Michael
Porter Junior, where it feels like he wax and wanes on offense more than
he does with his rebounding and defense. And you know what, that's going
to be just fine for this team. There's still things to harp on.
The bench is basically a mess after you Reggie Jackson and Christian Brown, but
the fact that you're still yet to a top seven like you were last year.
Yes, you would prefer to have Bruce Brown over Reggie Jackson or maybe
even Christian Brown in general, but you still run. It seems like seven
trustworthy players deep because I was wrong about Reggie Jackson. Of course, it
sure seems like so far, that's just they're gonna be fine. They might
not finish with a one seed in the West. There are teams like the
Thunder, like the tim Wolves that will want to go for it more.
This team is still really good, and I think you have to leave them
as favorites in the Western Conference. They don't really have the amo to make
a trade if they did want to significantly deepen the rotation to get to an
eighth or ninth guy. Where do we trusted big? Because how much can
DeAndre Jordan actually play the ichnology. He's not having a good year and he's
kind of already fallen out. And do we think that Julian Strather or Peyton
Watson are just going to be ready by the playoffs. They don't really unless
they're looking to move off of one of their top seven guys. They don't
really have the AMMO or the salary to go do something significant. But you
look at their top seven, even if you want to say it's a top
six because you count Brown and Jackson as one player or whatever. Even with
their flaws, the Nuggets are the toast of the West. There's just no
reason to pretend otherwise. So the Pistons fourteen wins is three fewer than last
year, and it might be a gift because they're currently embroiled in a losing
streak that has them on track to have the worst record in NBA history.
This team is a disaster right now. The j and Ivy stuff is officially
awkward, verging on detrimental. Now you're dealing with the Jaalen Duran injury.
We've still seen a little bit too much. It's they're not staples. So
now that Bonian Bogdanovich is back, they'll be even less with staple fire.
The two big lineups into the sun and that includes Isaiah Stewart. It's just
we're talking. Yeah, he's shooting five from three. The volume is not
that. The volume is not that high, and so do you call him
a stretch big? And part of being a stretch big is can you attack
close outs? That's not something he's necessarily comfortable doing at the moment. Bogdona's
coming back opens up the floor for Kate Cunningham, and we started to see
him play better before Bogdanovic even came back. That's a good sign. Star
Thomps has been one of the most entertaining players to watch on defense in all
of basketball. Jaalen Duran was a d light before he went down with his
injury. This team can be better Monte Morris, he'll get healthier. That
should help them as well. So everyone who's in a rush and will trade
Bogdanovich, trade Morris, trade Burkes, just get what you could get for
them. Maybe they go that route. But if you're not gonna get a
good first round pick for Bogdanovich, you might as well just keep him because
your wind toll is gonna be low enough that you have top lottery odds anyway,
and his spacing, his scoring can streamline development for everyone else. And
now you get to a point where, yeah, we're going one big and
Bogdanovich and now we have you know, maybe the spacing if K's hitting his
threes, depending on who else, and Marcus Saster is gonna be on the
floor. But like you can get two lineups where there are at least two
to three positive shooters, and then you can mix and match with Kate Cunningham
and Star Thompson and hopefully Jay and Ivy at one point. I won't pretend
that this season has been a success for the Pistons. It's just a it's
an unmitigated disaster and they need to get their shit together. Otherwise Tory Reaver
is not gonna have a job time next year. I would assume the Warriors
forty two and forty. Speaking of gifts, they're on pace to be below
five hundred. I assume they'll get it together to some extent. But they're
old, they're slow, they're unathletic. You can blame some things on Steve
Kerr, but he's gotten away from some Moses Moses Moody mindis excuse me when
it's mattered most at points. I don't know how this team is supposed to
be a lot better than it is now, and it wouldn't be so frustrating
if you're kind of just riding out the end of this dynastic era. If
Steph Curry wasn't a transformative player, still he can headline a contender the Warriors
just haven't put one around him, and you're at a point now where it
needs to be a big trade to make it happen. And this does not
really account for that because it is a new front office with Kirk Lacup and
Mike dunleavy in charge running the show, and they showed they being aggressive with
the Chris Paul trade, specifically, will they do it mid season and will
they make the call of we're gonna get rid of Kaminga here, we'll move
to future first round picks and we'll go after a Pascal Siakam and we'll try
and get Ojannanobi. My point is you can't stamp Pat and hope to be
in the middle. This team. It's the dynastic eraror it's run out of
lightning in a bottle stores. They got that when they won the title in
twenty twenty two. It's not happening again. And everyone can say we're waiting
for Klay Thompson to be better. He'll be less disjointed on offense. The
defense is not coming back. He's thirty three, he's two major injuries under
his belt. And then there's the Andrew Wiggins stuff where Okay, you can
hold out hope that he's more consistent and just better. Overall, we have
nearly a decade of evidence that says twenty twenty two postseason Andrew Wiggins is the
exception, not the rule. And so if you're the Warriors, you need
to be eyeing the trade market if you are actually concerned about optimizing what's left
of steps window. Again, this would be so much easier just to ride
out, let them fade off into stunset. If Steph wasn't this transformative MVP
type of player. He's still though, and so to me, you're obligated.
And We've said this multiple times on this podcast. I've said it,
I've written about it, and the Warriors just have never done it. And
they were kind of vindicated to some extent when they won another title, But
after seeing last year spending it mediocrity, you're doing the same again. Real
changes need to be made if you actually want to make the most of Steph
Curry's prime. Houston Rockets. I don't feel good about this one either.
I hate putting teams that are plucky. They're above five hundred right now as
I'm recording this, thirty nine and forty three feels right though there's nothing.
You look at this team's performance to date, there's nothing that feels too fluky.
The defense feels real. Their top five in points, a lot of
per possession right now, they've gotten some opponents are not shooting like ultra high
e clips from the three point line for them. But when you watch them,
when you watch Dylan Brooks, when you watch Fred VanVleet, when you
watch Jabari Smith Junior, when you even watch Alpha and Shangun, Tarry Eason,
Jayson Tate, there's a real like there's a real defensive system here or
a lot of defensive talent that could be effective. The offense can have its
highs highs as well, does explore some valleys. My question with them,
I mean, I have a multitude of questions for them, but the two
primary ones are can Alprin shanegunin playoffits for an entire year. It's not that
I don't believe in his talent. He's shouldering his biggest load ever and now
we're gonna extrapolate that across an entire eighty two game season. Could they fade
a little bit and then what happens when Aman Thompson returns he has to.
I would face assume he factors prominently into the rotation where you're gonna lean on
a rookie to that degree, it lends itself to growing pains, and that
could hurt them in the immediate And there is a chance the Rockets look to
the trade market to improve upon just being sort of in the bottom of the
middle, however you want to phrase it. Their pick is owed to Oklahoma
City this year top six, top four protection, I believe, But like,
is it really the time? Are you gonna go after a bigger name?
What bigger name that's become available actually interests you? Is it? You're
gonna be in on siakam oh Giannobi fits anywhere? It doesn't feel like he's
available. Would you be in on brandon Ingram or Zion Williamson. Zion Williamson
is such a weird fit here now? Would you be in on Zion?
If the Pelicans decide to make a move there, I don't know, And
so I don't see them getting noticeably better at the trade deadline. Some of
the backup big minutes, they could stand to rely on Jabari to run even
more backup five minutes, Like there's some awkwardness there, but this team,
like they're interesting. I just don't know that they're good enough to do anything
else other than hover around playing territory. If they finish at five hundred.
If they finished at five hundred, it won't be surprised. If they're above
five hundred, it will be a little surprised. The Indiana Pacers NBA Cup
runner ups. Their offense is just it's thermonuclear. It's fast, devastating,
versatile, fast again, it's efficient. They have the best half court offense,
which is a big deal because they were twenty third in that metric last
year. You can worry about the defense. I'm worried about the defense.
Aside from Aaron E. Smith, they don't really have the size to rumble
with these bigger wings. You're looking at Bruce Brown, TJ McConnell, Andrew
Demhard. All those guys are undersized. Miles Turner looks over attacked on the
defensive end. I feel like sometimes it starts to impact him adversely on the
offensive end as well. But you just look at what Indiana is doing and
for the regular season, specifically, a team that can run and is in
the shape to do this all season and there are a lot of holdovers from
last season, and so if you're worried about what we'll be topping be in
good enough shape too. I mean, he's just a shot of adrenaline to
begin with. But if you're worried about Bruce Brown being in enough shape to
play at warp speed all year one, I just these aren't the types of
players I worry about. But most of this Indiana team, so much of
the core was there last year. They're gonna be in shape to play this
way all season, and so I think that they're going to be a forty
seven win team. That just feels that just feels right. They you told
me they get to fifty, I wouldn't be shocked. I do think the
defense is gonna is going to hurt them there. They are built to make
a trade if they want to. They have Benn mcmather and they have Jarris
Walker. They own all their their first I just don't know what the answer
is. I really do like Pascal Siakam here having the defense of him and
Miles Turner. He can do some of the elite wing defensive stuff, but
he's more of a big and so that's a little awkward. How much you
give up for him, and then he's another player who's used to working on
the ball and things have been fickle in Toronto because they have him sort of
seating touches and status. To Scottie Barnes, would it be the same way
in Indy? There's a lot better spacing there, so we can attack very
quickly off the catch and have more room to do so. I don't know
if that's the answer. They're another team where it's oh, throw Giannanobi.
But could they get a you know, Dory Finney Smith would would make a
difference, So Jay Sean Tate would make a difference. That's the prototype of
player that they should really be after. But they're a playoff teams constructed.
I don't know what to do with the Clippers. They've come on lately the
lineup and look, Tyler's done a good job. I think of exploring more
certain lineups. PJ. Tucker has gotten five straight dnps, I believe,
and that's good, but it's also bad in the sense that, well,
you want someone who could fill the minutes he was taking. I think can
play alongside another big They don't really have that right now, unless you're gonna
downsize to the hardened George Leonard Man combo alongside zoo bots, and that lineup
is absolutely annihilating opponents. Right now, they've been unable to find any sort
of lineup with hard and Russell Westbrook where it works. That will be something
to monitor. My part of my primary concern is, as I'm recording this,
Paul George and Kwhilander have played in every game, and so it'll be
hovering around five hundred. When you've gotten that availability, and when their track
record suggests that this pristine availability is operating on borrowed time, it's just a
little uneasy. The Clippers to begin with this season were both combustible and tantalizing.
The James Harden trade essentially made them more of both. They are more
combustible, but they're also more tantalizing. They do have some of the assets
to go out and make a trade. I don't necessarily know what they need.
Probably again, probably sort of a PJ. Tucker type is there's someone
they could get to stretch the floor at the five, but can also spend
time if they want to play with or Ticer or zoo bots. That might
be something to look at, or they just could skew wing all together like
kind of a wing defender to help with some of the combinations where they are
a little bit more undersized. Norman Powell has become mission critical to this team.
I think the Clippers are gonna be really good, and I can see
forty five and thirty seven being too low on them. But again, they've
gotten here and the post James Hardentree lose your first five, they've looked a
lot better since. So we need to recognize that. You just you have
to doubt the durability of their top two stars. But even a hard or
a Westbrook is something going to creep up at all this season. And that's
just where I'm at. You Again, you have to pull wins from somewhere.
But the Clippers, they have a much higher ceiling than forty five wins.
The Lakers are gonna have it. Fifty wins. The NBA Cup winners,
you can't call it the I guess they are the NBA in season tournament
winners. Uh. They look as they've gotten healthier, they've looked a lot
better. Lebron James looks spectacular. Quite frankly, the minutes without him are
still disaster that's going to help him In the MVP discussion, Anthony Davis is
building a defensive Player of the Year discussion game by game Here, D'Angel Russell's
put together like decided the two way performances, which is just weird to watch,
and it complicates when you start to come up with trades to improve their
offense. It's well, does it make sense Zach Lvin's and then comes up
does it make sense thinking up Delo and mariehat Chimore and other stuff to get
Zach Lvine And when d'An angel Russell has been playing the way he's playing,
I don't know. Excuse me, I don't know that it does. And
so you do have to think about that, the fact that you are thinking
about that there was a good spot for the Lakers to be in the question
has ever look this team? I know what they've done at points during or
what they did at points in the midseason tournament. There's not enough shooting in
terms of efficiency or volume from the perimeter. They need to address that.
Tore im Prints coming on a little bit will help. Max Christie's given them
some good minutes. Cam Reddish has been really good defensively, Will gave Vincent
come back and maybe jack up their three point volume in efficiency. His three
point clips have traditionally been all over the place, so you don't know.
I'd like to see them acquire a shooter that could track their closing lineup,
to be honest with you, because I look at it as very open ended.
I know a lot of people want to pencil de lo in there or
Ruey in there. Delo understands he's not always going to close games. I
think Reeves, Lebron, and ad are kind of your three guaranteed spots to
close games. Can you get a shooter to add to that trio that you
know is going to close games for you? And if you can, the
Lakers become a real threat. And then of course there's Look, they'll be
great as long as Lebron and a d are healthy. But neither of those
guys have played in sixty games or more since twenty eighteen. Twenty nineteen.
The Memphis Grizzlies thirty three and forty nine feels right. It's incredibly low,
but the Ron pace to win a lot less than that they're dealing with.
In addition, look, Jahm Moran's coming back soon from his twenty five games
suspension. They're dealing with a bevy of other stuff. Marcus smart as out
right now. Lukenard's only played in eight games while dealing with some knee problems,
which knee problems have been an issue in his past. That's something they
keep an eye on. Neither Steven Adams or Brandon Clark are expected to play
this season. That's a big deal. I don't know what you're gonna hope
for from this Memphis team. You're there are five games in the lost column
behind the final playing spot a quarter of the way through the season. That's
a pretty big gap to bridge. And I don't expect them to do it.
I don't. This isn't oh they need to blow it up now.
But the season feels like a wash and they're gonna need to recalibrate over the
offseason. And I personally wouldn't. You know, if it's a small time
trade and we're gonna get Andre Drummon to come in here and try and replicate
a lot of what Steven Adams did for you, Okay, fine, but
I wouldn't be in the business of, oh, we need to make another
trade to kind of advance our agenda this season. Because it just doesn't matter.
To what end are you doing that to get the ninth spot in the
plays, I'm gonna be back your way into a first round exit. I'm
not about it. I will be interesting how they're playing once Job returns.
But this season, frankly, this season's over for them. It's just it's
over. They've they've seed in too much ground and it's not entirely their fault.
The Miami Heat. I'm gonna go with forty seven just because they're the
Miami Heat, and I I'm not gonna doubt their ability to figure it out.
We got to a point they gave up Max Drus and gave Vincent,
let them leave for nothing, and it doesn't fucking matter because the you know,
the dribbling version of Duncan Robinson is real and hamay Hawks has come in
and even before he was hitting threes, was leaving a two way den and
now he's hitting threes. On top of that, there are dead last and
opponent percentage at the rim. They don't allow a ton of attempts there,
but to be thirtieth is pretty big deal for them. I think it speaks
to just how small Bam has never been a true rim protector, and they
just they skew small overall. And if you're gonna play bigger, you're you're
gonna have a defensive liability on the court. Does a healthier Caleb Martin allow
wings forwards like Hawk has, like Jimmy Butler to pitch in more down low.
That's something to monitor or do you need to address that a little bit
more. Tyler Hero is gonna come back. That will, like in Fury,
help your offense, gives you, you know, the additional playmaking.
I think he's I don't know if he's an underrated passer, reason quality passer
enough and so you can use those minutes with him and Kyle Lowry and Jimmy
Butler and bam Adebayo. You have your passing down. But if you get
to a point where you're training Tyler Hero Kyle Lowry, you are probably gonna
need to bring in some additional playmaking. And shout out to bam here as
well. He's putting together yet another career off the defensive season, and I
think that's gonna put him firmly in not just the conversation, but firmly on
an All NBA team for the for the first time in his career, but
I'm just overtook. The Heat's defense has been a little weird. Some of
that. His opponents have been shooting well from the perimeter against them, and
you wouldn't expect all those percentages to hold relative to the reputation, though,
that is something to watch for. They're just gonna spit out forty five to
seven wins, Like, what are we even doing here? You just have
to I'm over doubting the Heat. Like we said, there's alien shit going
on in there. They're gonna upend the postseason landscape at some point. Milwaukee
Bucks. Everyone's concerned about the Bucks, and I get it. The defense
is not great. No team allows opponents to get out and transition more often
after live rebounds than Milwaukee. It's not just a matter of teams getting behind
their guards. There's a lot of just like watching and letting things happen.
From Brook Lopez and even Giannis Tantakumpo. I don't know that they're gonna solve
these issues, these defensive issues with the personnel. It's on their roster necessarily.
We've seen Bobby Portis's minutes come down. We should note that both Pat
Contenton and Jake Crowd are injured. They're still on this like fifty six win
pace, which is what I have them for fifty six and twenty six.
They're just gonna be fine. I mean, the offense is top five and
they're not even like milking the Damian Lillard Downason Tentacupo pick and roll enough.
Is it concerning that there's been some rough late game execution. Bobby Port has
called it out from Adrian Griffin and the players the other day. It's slightly
concerning, But the Bucks still have a top five crunch time offense, and
so the fact that they haven't even reached their peak. Their rim protection has
gotten a lot better since Brook Lopez started started playing more drop unless he's going
up against Indiana. So for all that's wrong with them, they're still just
on pace for this elite record. I think the concerns are going to manifest
more in the postseason, and it's can you get some additional point of attack
defense in here, or just maybe a different look on the wings. I
will say I've been really impressed with, for the most part, when League
Beasley has done on both ends of the floor this season. Probably not enough
defensively, but he's had games where he's played really well defensively. The Minnesota
Timberwolves fifty eight and twenty four, because fuck it, this team is real.
If I have to choose right now, I've already chosen in the preseason.
But if I have to choose, I'm gonna pick the Nuggets to come
out of the West. After that, though, and we've had this conversation
before, it's supposed to be entirely open ended. It's not, because the
Timberwolves exist and this team is just so good. When you look at the
top eight nine of their rotation, depending on how you feel about Troy Brown
Junior, that is superseded by no other team in the league one through eight
or nine. There might be deeper teams overall looking at New Orleans and all
their optionality. OK, see of course, but but one through eight the
Wolves have maybe the most bankable playoff rotation right now, nos Reed has made
another jump at both ends of the floor. I still need to see this
offense take more threes, and I think that's important because the dual big setup,
while it's been effective, especially on defense, it has created an environment
where it's harder for the perimeter players to get to the rim, and so
the Wolves are not as often and those tighter spaces at points have resulted in
some additional turnovers, and three point shooting can be a way offsetting that.
I'm not saying Cam Karl Anthony Town's out in the corner. Have him take
ten threes a game, but Carl Anthony Towns take ten threes a game.
At this point, Carlin Town's been good though some variants on offense, and
then he's defended really well. Still slow in space, but when you look
at what he's doing specifically, just like where he's supposed to be, he's
now there and it's not and it's not just there, and he's off balance
and he's late. It helps that you're playing with nos Reed and Rudy Gobert,
who probably needs to be the defensive player of the year right now.
You go back and look at just five to seven possessions defense possessions from the
Wolves per game. He is all over the place. I said, I
haven't seen him move like this in years. I think it was JJ Reddick
or Zach Lowe had recently said, and they're just probably right because it's them
that he has never moved like this ever. They have the best defense in
the league. It's not going anywhere, I think because you look at their
second best defender, is it We know where their second best defender is.
But when you look at who Rudy Goberart is played next to on the perimeter,
Athey Edwards, Jade McDaniels, probably Nikael Alexander Walker, probably Troy Brown
Junior all would have registered as the best perimeter defender during Go Bear's final season
in Utah if they were on that team. So to have all this personnel
around, I think it's worth the offensive trade off because you have decided,
when you're looking at some of the guys you are playing naw, Troy Brown
Jr. Kyle Anderson, even, you have decided that your three point attempt
trade may always be artificially or by design repressed. And I'm watching this team
and it's just okay, I like to see them. I don't think it's
a matter of that meeting to acquire someone. I think you look at Towns,
you can even see it from Jade McDaniels, Anthony Edwards, who's pull
up three pointer has been going in this year. Can they up their three
point volume because I think that would do wonders for the offense. But they're
fifty eight. They're on course. I think for maybe sixty something. At
this point. We're gonna pull them back a little bit. But this is
probably gonna be the one seed in the Eastern Conference. Quite frankly, I
will be interested to see. My question with the Wolves is whether any of
the matchup stuff changes in the postseason. Is that when teams are scheming for
you, when they're going up against you potentially seven times in a row,
does that make it harder to float the two big stuff? I think it.
I this might be a hot take. I think it will wind up
impacting Karlathee Towns more than anyone because he might be more exploitable on defense than
or not might be. He is more than a nas Reeder or a Gobert,
and I think you could get by defensively with those two on the court
together and Read and go Bear in a playoff series because of just how damn
switchable nas Reed is. The New Orleans Pelicans, I'm going forty five wins.
It's ambitious. You will be hard pressed to find someone who is higher
on this exact version. No changes of the Pelicans than me. I have
vacillated. We've made jokes in discord about it, the jokes been made on
Twitter about it. I was almost ready to deboard the bandwagon at one point.
They're getting healthier. You can see the skeleton of a really great team
here. Tramer for the third's return is absolutely monstrous because I think it will
allow them to get to more of those Zion as your big units with Herb
Jones so that you could and maybe even Dyson Daniels so that he's not the
one playing the center role specifically, but Zion load big units that don't torpedo
your defense. I think still when you watch this team, there's some things
plural missing, and no one in themselves is the primary issue. I will
say Zion's rebounding and conditioning is clearly an issue. There's the report from Christian
Clark of The Times pick un I think are la dot com about how the
Pelicans have struggled to get Zion to change his diet and work on his conditioning.
That's definitely somebody to monitor. I find it tough to be too critical
of someone in zion spot who can't necessarily get his because he's twenty three,
is my point, and just like how dedicated were you to nutrition when you're
twenty three? You weren't getting paid this much money. But you do have
to remember who they're dealing with, a twenty three year old. However,
his defensive rebounding rate is eight point sixty five when Yonis Valentiunis is off the
floor and when Cody Zeler's off the floor so effectively sometimes Nance is there,
but when he is a primary big that is impressively shitty. I have to
say it, that's something to be a concern. I look at them and
it's Yona Salentunis is not the problem, and I'm not gonna say Larry as
Junior is the problem either. But they could use a different big look next
to Zion, someone who's going to protect the rim set really powerful screens.
That player, and I believe we've talked about this on podcast, doesn't necessarily
need to be a floor spacer one because it's hard to find those guys.
But two, if you could find that guy, definitely go out and get
him. But if you can just get someone to create separation with screens,
that will be a form of spacing and gravity in itself. And Zion doesn't
need a ton of room to get to the basket. He's been lighter on
freakish athletic plays this year, and he can still just devastate defenses and get
through double triple, quadruple teams. With that said, I do think the
Pelicans really do need to improve their floor balance overall. Still, even if
you're gonna, you know, even with Trey Murphy being back, I don't
know. If I'm looking at this roster without any changes. I think there's
the one big stuff. But the other thing you could try is can we
get Zion to set more super high ball screens for Brandon Ingram or CJ.
Mccumps. They can dribble into threes that are gonna be twenty five feet and
above the break, and then that give Zion room to kind of roam underneath
them after setting the screen. Is it a matter though, of going out
and getting a trade. I've actually the more I thought about it, I've
love og Ananobi for this team because of what he could do in the Zion
as your big lineups. You have him, you put herb on ball a
little bit more if you want, if you're worried about you know, maybe
run some pick and rolls with him and Zion, but having herb and Og
specifically, that's gonna insulate you defensively against basically any big man unit and you
get the benefits of right. So throw Ingram and Trey Murphy there and there's
just your spacing and you devastate. I do think for the Pelicans, who
actualize the contender version of themselves, they will need to make a trade.
But they are closer than I think some of their low moments might suggest.
The New York Knicks, I don't know what to do with them. I'm
putting them at forty seven wins, which is what they had last year.
I think some fans will take that as an insult because they're on pace to
went about fifty right now. It's not an insult. I mean, we
have to consider the shifting landscape in the East. For one, Boston,
Milwaukee, Philly not going anywhere. Orlando and Indy neither of them look like
they're going anywhere right now, and at least one of them seems like they're
here to stay. And then you kind of have to believe Miami and nor
Cleveland will both climb up the ranks. And so the Knicks have been really
bad against winning opponents this year. I think there's three and nine in those
games. They're a really good team overall, though, and it's there's a
weird I should do a longer podcast on this, but it's the middle of
the season and I don't want to dedicate way too much time to one team.
I really like what they've done, even look the Quentin Grimes struggles.
They move him to the bench, Dante de vincenzls starting. What does that
do to the defense Because of how important Quentin Grimes was to defending on the
perimeter, Our's been better there this year. But this gets leads into my
difficulty. There's just weirdness. The stuff that I can buy into the defense,
I just I buy into. Mitchell Robinson has been great. Some of
the on off splits can be wonky, but you have to look at the
way that he's just deterring teams from It's not just yeah, the rim volume
can be a little bit higher, but he's just taking away floaters because they're
terrified of him. And he's also being pulled away from the basket a bunch.
I don't so I think the best way to look at this stuff.
I like about the Knicks I think the defense is real stuff I don't like.
It doesn't seem like they can defend teams that stretch the floor, like
across all five spots or even four spots. That's a real problem. The
offense taking enough threes and hitting them at a high clip. I would still
like to see them take more threes. Jalen Brunson's emergence as one of the
deadliest off the dribble three point shooters in the league absolutely real. Julius Rando
playing better lately may be real, but the inconsistency from him and now r
J. Barrett coming back from his Migram stuff, and even Josh Hart who
him and Grimes. They're talking about how hard it is to get in the
flow of this offense because they're so deep, and neither of those two are
Grimes I think could play on offense like Dante DiVincenzo. Josh Hart isn't really
wired to do that. But he can also go grab a rebound and then
dribble it up the court. That's how you can generate your own offense.
They're almost it feels like they're too deep for their own good, and you
run into some awkwardness and the other issue here is how do you get to
the next step with this roster. Where's the internal leap coming from. I
don't know that Emmanuel Quickly is going to be much better. Quentin Grimes is
currently in his slump but has been demoted. I just think that RJ.
Barrett is going to be a roller coaster for his career. Felt like he
turned a corner as just a decision maker. There have been some of those
moments since he's come back from the migraine issue, but not nearly as many.
And it's I'm not insulting the Nicks in a sense that they need to
make a trade or that they're doomed. It's just this is weird. They're
good the path to them with this exact roster being a lot better and being
a threat to come out of the East, a true blue threat. I
don't know how they get there, But I'm also I'm gonna sit here.
I'm not gonna sit here and pretend I know how do they get there with
the trade? The names that are available, Zach Levine, Pascal siaka Ojiannanobi
is the guy, but he's the guy for every team, and I don't
think the Raptors move him. I think they need the bigger wing type,
doesn't need to be doesn't need to have ball skills, but we'll defend their
butts off and is going to hit and take a bunch of open threes in
Ojiannaobi type. I don't know that there's a lower end version of that that's
going to become available to the Knicks. Still a really good team. I
just question whether they have a peak above forty seven wins, maybe winning one
playoff series. If the indicators are there, their defense, this remains elite,
and they remain continue to hover in the top ten of offenses as well.
I'll recalibrate at the halfway point. But something still feels off here.
And again it's not in a bad way. It's like I said, they
might be too deep for their own good. You could if you would like
to restrain yourself from talking about the thunder. Sam Presty would certainly like you
to. I'm done this team. They have not. They have not just
arrived. They've unpacked, They've changed the locks, and they've settled into their
new spot, new digs atop the Western Conference and the ore the top of
the Western Conference. I won't say they're beyond concern because I have not many
but a few. Well, Chet Holmgren hit a rookie wall like this is
just his first time going through an eighty two game season. The Josh Giddy
play guys. It's admitted it's been a drain and they now have to plan
around it. That's going to be an issue. Some of their most important
lineups. I think their most important lineups, We're getting to the point where
I don't even want to see him in them. You had to start the
game final to close the game. No other than that. You look at
this team. Will they be the best three point shooting team in the league
all year? Probably not, And they also need to take more threes.
The defensive rebounding and rebounding in general is an issue. Can they acquire more
heft on the front line without doing the anti thunder thing of oh, we
consolidate it into kind of a Winnish now trade. Those are concerns, but
this team is great. You don't get inside the top five of net rating
more than one quarter the way through the season on accident, shake Gillchchalexanders once
again a top five MVP candidate, and he's not four or five there's Jokic,
Hallie and SGA. I think Lebron is the other guy that's gonna have
a case to be in the top four, So maybe SGA is four.
I know a lot of people want to see Kevin Durant get there. I'm
not lower on his case than most. He could certainly be in my top
five. I haven't gone through it. I don't think he's in the top
three though. I would have Sga, Halle and Jokic all ahead of him,
and I probably have Lebron ahead of him as well. The Thunder though
just Jalen Williams is now now JA Dubb is now in every level score.
That's what it really feels like. Lou Dort defending his butt off. Has
not been playing as well on offensive late, but he's still just low fucking
mac truck Dort and really, look, I can't overemphasize enough how much better
he makes a Jdubb or Shay Gildas Alexander look, or even a Channel Wan
look defensively because he insulates everybody against the most difficult assignment i'd Someone on Twitter
asked me if I thought Shay could make all defense this year. I think
his defensive effort will be reflected in the MVP voting, But he's not gonna
make all defense because he's so insulated on defense when you look at his one
on one assignment workload thanks to lou Dort, Isaiah Joe just continues to do
things. Case and Waller's been a great like a great rookie. The fact
that he's so plug and play defends his butt off. Will hit open threes.
That's a big deal. Aaron Wiggins shot of adrenaline. I think Jay
Will will start to play a little bit better. I think this team is
just are they a contender? They might be. I'm gonna have him fifty
one wins, but if they can acquire some hef on the front line and
someone who doesn't need to crack their closing line up, but another frontcourt option
that could's that has size and can play alongside chet Holme Grin. And it's
hard to find a big who can't play alongside chet hulng Grin because of what
he does from the outside. They just that doesn't change their entire trajectory,
but it turns them into a completely different They're not some at that point.
They're not a plucky title threat. They're like an actual title threat. I
just don't think they'll make that move. And look, they don't need to
because as constructed, they will probably season into a contender eventually. The Erlino
Magic another surprise, We'll go forty eight wins here. I didn't see this.
I could have seen a scenario where I was incredibly I think I took
the over on the Thunder because of Sam. I listened to Sam pressI I'm
a fucking idiot. But the Magic. I could never envision them winning almost
fifty games. It's it's gonna happen at this point. I don't know where's
the pullback gonna come from. You actually might get some boose. Franz Vagner's
up been shooting the ball well from three. He still been making an impact
on offense, though Caro's once again a terror. The defense has remained health
hire for the most part, without by the way Mark kel Foltz or Wendell
Carter Junior. Jonathan Isaac is now dealing with another injury. So as the
Magic get healthier, they might get even better on the defensive end. The
offense is their problem. It's been better lately. They can do some things
in transition they can get to the foul line. It helps that Palo Bank
Carroll's essentially just murdering everybody as I record this. But they need they need
shooting, and by that I mean not just someone who's hitting threes, someone
who has defenses react like they're going to hit threes. Defenses don't care about
guarding any of Orlando shooters at this point, even when it looks like they're
four out or five out, they don't care about any of Orlando shooters.
And so can you get them a shooter that defense is going to care about
to make life easier on Franz Wagner, on Palo Bank Caro, even on
excuse me, Mark L. Fultz, Like once he's once he's back,
would they be willing to make that trade if? And I don't think it
needs to be a stars Zach Levine still interests me a little bit for this
team when they go after Anthony Simons, when they go after Gary French Junior,
that's the level of player that could make a world of difference here.
I'll rap by saying I think Anthony Black is probably gonna make like a trillion
all defense teams for his career and I'll find I'll wrap it up finally by
saying Jalen Suggs. I've said this probably too many times. He to me
has been a lock for all defense. I think he's been one of the
ten best defenders in basketball. And that's on top of kind of just improving
on offense accepting a streamlined, more plug and play role. The Philadelphia seventy
six ers are gonna win fifty three games. That's I think that's the exact
base they're on now. If you're waiting for the pullback, it's just it's
not coming. Tyrese Maxie has inoculated them against it forfeiting. James Harden's star
power matters in a vacuum, but now you've replaced it with more all NBA
caliber star power in Tyrese Maxi. He's averaging like twenty seven points in or
twenty six points and seven assassooing over thirty nine percent on an absurd volume with
threes. The sixers are the minutes he plays without Joel Embiid. That's a
big deal. Joe Embiid having another MVP type campaign as well. The passing
from him has gotten a lot better and there's more variance to Philly's offense.
In general, it feels like there's been some I don't want to call it
defensive noise, but concern. The Sixers are not good at keeping teams out
of transition right now. They get even worse when Joel Embiid is off the
floor. I do think this probably has at least a little to a lot
to do with Nick Nurse deciding that he wants them to crash the offensive glass.
But they could use another ball handler type to help control the ball on
offense and then maybe limit the transition opportunities when you're looking at some of the
turnovers they've had, or another wing to really because you look at their best
defenders right now are Embiid Okay, he's not he's talk what you just said,
those wing types, and then you have de Anthony Melton, and there's
Jaden Springer and Tobias Harris has been solid, but he's cooled off after his
surface at the Sun start. Kelly Brady Junior is not going to give you
that type of performance on defense, So I would like to see them go
after someone who would and if you're not gonna be another ball handler type to
come off the bench to steady your offense. Without Maxi on the floor,
they're just a ridiculously good team, though, and Maxi's give them optionality.
They don't need to go out and trade for a number two. Now,
they don't even need a number three. He could say, we just want
to deepen our rotation, and we're going to move some of these assets to
get two or three guys in here who fill the gaps. I do think
they're less likely to go that route and give up first round equity in the
middle of the season. They want to wait and see what happens over the
offseason with their cap space in the trade market. But again, Maxi has
afforded them all sorts of optionality. The Phoenix Suns, I'm gonna go with
fifty. I know some people probably expect it to be less. Zero minutes
have been played by their big three together this season. Bradley Beal's still dealing
with the back stuff, Devin Booker missed some time. They're still winning.
They're seven to four with KD and Devin Booker this year. That's a better
than fifty win pace. And I do truly believe that by getting Bradley Beal
back, you're doing two things. The turnovers have been an issue even with
them and Booker on the court now, But when it's Booker and Beal and
Durant and now you can have two of them on the court at all times,
I think the turnovers will start to tamp themselves down. And then you've
also removed one wild card from the crunch time rotation. You know that bial,
Durant and Booker are going to play when they're all there. Now you
futz and fiddle around them. Could they be bitten by the fact that they
have a bunch of one way minimum contract guys or just guys who run hot
and cold, including use of Nurkic, who's he's had some really good moments
this year, but he's been there big nights where it feels like he's just
not there at all, or where the defense is just is terrible. It's
actually impressive that the Suns are not a bottom ten defense at the moment when
you look at their personnel and how they had to rely on some of the
units. I think backup five or five spot in general could become an issue
come postseason. Are they able to get anyone to help that or are they
gonna need to rely on smaller accommodations than Hey, Kevin Durant is now your
backup five. I don't know. They have three stars and Bradley Beal will
eventually be healthy. It's fair to question what they're sealing is now. I
still think, Look, Minnesota's right there. This might be the team that's
the third most ready to win a title in the West. The Lakers and
the thunder kind of are giving me pause there, but they're certainly in that.
Like when I'm talking Inner Circle contenders right now, and we did this,
go check out our inner our podcast on Inner Circle contenders, I have
Minnesota, Denver, Boston, and Milwaukee, and I'd be willing to consider
putting Phoenix or the Lakers in there. I don't have them in there just
yet, but the Suns are certainly in that next tier if they're not in
the inner circle. The Blazers seventeen and sixty five, I promise you I
have seen some Blazers. I know they're on pace to win more. I
know that their offense, excuse me, their defense has been pretty good.
They're tenth in points loud per possession in the half court. That's a big
deal. They should get one. I think they're gonna get worse on defense
because now you have Anthony Simons and Scoot Henderson back on the fold. But
two, I think they'll get on worse by design. It's okay, you're
going to rely on Scoot Henderson a rookie. The learning curve for rookie point
cards is pretty steep. That's going to hurt you. And then the bigger
one is how many of the guys who are helping them are still there after
the trade deadline. I'm talking Jeremy Grant, Mattist, Steibel, Anthony Simon's
himself, Malcolm Brockton. Of course, I think at least two of those
guys get traded by the deadline, and I think I also think that even
if they don't, this includes DeAndre Ayton, we're gonna start to see injuries
to made up body parts and them racking up dnps because that's just the point
of the rebuild. Portland's wouldn't shock me if they won more than this.
But I think by the trade deadline, we'll look at this and say,
okay, like this team is going to get worse on purpose one way or
the other. The Sacramento Kings, I'm going with forty six and thirty four.
Excuse me, he says thirty five. The issue forty six and thirty
six is what it should say. I apologize. The issue there here is
I don't think they're worse. I just don't know how much better they are.
You've gotten defensive jumps from Keegan Murray before his back injuries and Daron Fox
that kind of gets offset by the Harrison Barnes regressing regression and Davion Mitchell just
becoming completely not completely unplayable, but he's just not as big of a part
of the rotation. You're also getting hammered in the minutes that the Bonus plays
without Fox. Offense is trending in the right direction since Fox's return. That's
good. So I still just have questions about this team. The bigger one
is the defense. Of course, they don't have the ability to be better
than a bottom ten defense to me over the course of a season. They're
another team where it's yes, O Jana will be be great, but if
you can get a Jasehn Tate or Dorian Phinney Smith that will go a long
long way. San Antonio Spurs. This one's hard because they look so bad
on purpose right now, I have them at nineteen and sixty three. I
could easily see them going higher just because they have the talent to get better.
Wemby's the headliner, of course there does he hit a rookie wall,
but like he's shooting over forty percent from three on real volume over his past
I think the past like two weeks or something, nine games, whatever it's
been, and at some point you would think, Okay, they're gonna get
They're gonna start Trey Jones right or get away from Jeremy Soham playing so much
point guard. And they have Zach Collins, they have Devin Vessel, they
have Calden Johnson, they have good players. I would like to see them
acquire another floor general type, not Devonte Graham, someone other than Tredy Jones,
Tias Jones. Speaking of Jones, this would make a lot of sense
for this team. I just don't think the Spurs are at that point,
and you don't need to be at that point to make a trade for someone
like Tyas Jones. But that's just not how they operate. I ultimately think
that they're gonna continue with the experimentation. Would surprise me if they get a
little extra cautious with Wemby. We get to the second half of the season
nineteen and sixty three, I feel uneasy about that. But we haven't seen
extended stretches of the Spurs playing a brand of basketball that makes you think they
are going to be more of a threat in the Western Conference, or I
should say, more of a threat to not finish with one of the two
worst records in the Western Conference, the Toronto Raptors thirty five and forty seven.
What do I say about the Raptors. Scotty Barnes' year three leap is
for real, and it gives the Raptors access to a multitude of directions.
Pick one, Pick one. You've not optimized the roster if you want to
keep Siakam and Barnes and Anonobi together. There's just not enough spacing. Their
half core offense has been more efficient overall than I would have expected, but
they still struggle to open it up. Everything just feels like it not everything,
but so much of what they do when it's effective, feels like it's
too hard and that it should be easier. That is with mind you Dennis
Shruter and Scotty Martin shooting better from three than I think anyone could have predicted
there are not any more levers to pull, levers to pull. With this
exact roster, you could hope Grady Dick kind of start shooting a lot better.
You could move Garrett Trent Junior to the starting five. That's really it.
And so if you are the Raptors and you want to be better than
thirty five and forty seven, then you need to go out and be involved
in the zach Lavine sweepstakes. If you want to be not trapped in the
bottom of the middle, then you need to trade. I would say Siakam
and Garret Trent Junior in advance a free agency because there's been this conversation in
our discord I think was everything Blacks proposed it. They're not sure what's worth
worse, letting Siakam and Garrett Trent Junior leave a free agency for nothing or
just running back this entire roster. And it's a fair point. Pick a
direction. You have Scottie Barnes, you know you need to flesh everything out
around him. I do think there's a pathway to him in Siakam working,
but you need to assemble a roster that opens that pathway to it working.
They haven't done that. Will they do that? Messiah Jerry has been kind
of cagy when it comes to blockbuster trade since the Kawhi Leonard deal. I
know that they did trade. They traded Yaka Purtle in the Qui Leonard deal.
That's the what the blackbuster I'm talking about. I know they went out
and got Mark Basol later on that year. That wasn't really a blockbuster and
since then their biggest move has been on the trade market has been bringing back
Yaka Purtle for a top six protected first round pick. You have the equity
to go out and be involved in some pretty splashing transactions depending on who becomes
available. I like Zack Lavine in Toronto. I'm sure Toronto doesn't. He's
just not that type of player. But if there's nothing wrong with that,
you know, the right foot stuff he's dealing with. I know he had
the PRP injection. If that's not a long term thing, he makes so
much sense for this team. If you don't want to go that route,
I get it, then it's time to trade Siakam and probably Trent I would
keep out of no, but he just makes too much sense to me.
Alongside Barnes Utah Jazz. I'm gonna go twenty nine to fifty three. I
think we're seeing this season what everyone mistakenly thought we were gonna see from the
jump last season, and that's the Jazz are at a talent deficit and it's
now showing injuries to Walker Kessler. Larry market In. The hamstring stuff right
now certainly haven't helped Jordan Clarkson's thigh stuff that's now diluted a playmaking well that
really only has Kante George aside from Jordan Clarkson. This team does have the
assets to say, well, maybe we'll go out and get more passing or
actual wings, and actual wings will who will defend without maybe shrinking the floor
on on the offensive end. I just I expect them to tilt more towards
sellers than opportunistic buyers, which is what they were with John Collins. Were
these opportunistic buyers. I do expect that they're more likely. I would frame
it this way, and I'm not going to predict it. I think it's
more likely Larry Marketen because he's going to be extension eligible, because they're going
to start thinking about his next deal, because he's a fringe all NBA player
and not necessarily a capslock building block for the future. I think there's a
better chance he becomes this year's surprise trade candidate than the Jazz go out and
make a move that addresses the you know, the playmaking uncertainty aside from George
or just the complete absence of wings on this raw and wings that can also
kind of diversify how you're running the front line right now, where you're kind
of locked into, well, we're playing it's not three fours because Larry Marketing
can play the three, but it's like, oh, we don't really have
room or the like, the tools to get Lowry to the four a bunch
And is John Collins best suited if he's playing alongside another big Is there any
way to open up minutes for Taylor Hendricks and all this that's not really related
to the Jazz changing up the way that they build a roster, but I'd
like to see more of Taylor Hendricks. I do think we get to a
point where we do see that, and so that will deflate their win total.
And there are players on this team, not necessarily Marketing, but that
you could see them moving that then actively hurt their immediate chances. I think
I would say Walker Kessler and Larry Marketing and the players least likely to be
traded, which is just weird because you could tell me that Larry Marketing gets
traded over Taylor Horton Tucker because there's more of a demand, and the Jazz
are decided to go that route. I just they're here because if they make
monumental changes, it's not going to be to improve materially improve the roster this
season. Our final team, the good old Washington Wizards, who are not
good, will go fifteen and sixty seven. They're actually on pace right now
to win only twelve. That's me or in fifteen almost feels bold because they're
built to lose and play no defense, and what is their pathway to getting
better than this twelve win pace? When you look at some of the players
on this team, Jordan po will be there past the trade deadline, will
Kyle Kuzma, Will Corey Kispert, Deni Avdya poison Pill. I think he'll
be there past the trade deadline. Well, Tyas Jones would, a healthy
Delon Right would well Daniel Gafford, And so you start to I could see
them starting to move players to make themselves even worse, which would mean that
fifteen is pretty ambitious. I will say, I just think when we get
to late in the season and you're dealing with teams who start to initiate their
own inorganic tanks or just good teams that have entered cruise control, the Wizards
will pick up a few extra victories there, even after they move at least
one of Kuzma and Tyas Jones, well, we'll limit it to that.
I think at least one of those guys will be gone. I'll be floored
if they're both still on the roster past the trade deadline. Bright spots though
for this team, Denny Avia, blockhool Bali, Corey Kisper. I think
those have been bright spouts. Lanry Shammitt before his was he deal with the
neck injury. I think he had some really good moments for them before before
that. The blockhoul Bali one, he just looks more ready, especially on
offense, that he was supposed to be. And I would like to see
the Wizards commit to really ratcheting up his front court touches for the rest of
the year most certainly if they that would be a you know, a vote
of confident, not a vote of confidence, but that would be one of
the primary reasons to move Kuzma, maybe even Jones, maybe even scale back
on Jordan Poole's role so that you can open up more touches in the front
court for Block Cool Bali, which are still like I think he's outside the
top five in the team on those and that's just not the way to go,
quite friendly. I want to see more. I want to see more
Block Cool Bali on ball and then the information that comes with it. Hope
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apologies once again, and perhaps forever more to Reggie Checks