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pbwsports · 4 years

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The all-time starting five for every NBA Western Conference team

What if the Splash Bros. had Wilt Chamberlain playing center? How many titles would the Lakers have won if Magic Johnson was running the break with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal? Imagine Hakeem Olajuwon and James Hardenteaming up in Clutch City.

We asked our NBA writers to come up with an all-time starting five for every current NBA franchise, along with one additional blast from the past. Only a player's contributions during his time with that franchise were considered. (So, no, LeBron James doesn't crack the Lakers' all-time list ... yet.)

In this era of "positionless" basketball, traditional positions don't matter quite as much as they used to, so we allowed some flexibility in choosing a lineup -- but you won't see teams with four centers or three point guards. The idea was to dive into each team's history and create a group that could at least potentially share the floor together.

We rolled out the Eastern Conference on Wednesday. Here is the Western Conference:

Dallas Mavericks

G: Derek Harper G: Jason Terry G: Rolando Blackman F: Mark Aguirre F: Dirk Nowitzki

Terry joins Nowitzki as the only players on both of the Mavs' Finals teams and was the second-leading scorer on both squads. There's a reason Harper and Blackman, the backcourt for some good teams that just couldn't get past the Showtime Lakers, have their numbers in the American Airlines Center rafters. Aguirre's jersey probably won't ever be retired in Dallas because of his bitter departure, but you can't dismiss his 24.6 points per game in eight seasons with the Mavs.

The toughest cuts: Michael Finley and Jason Kidd, one of whom helped a young German kid find his way in the NBA and the other who helped Nowitzki finally deliver a title to Dallas.

-- Tim MacMahon

Denver Nuggets

G: Fat Lever G: David Thompson F: Alex English F: Carmelo Anthony C: Dikembe Mutombo

You're probably asking yourself the same question I debated for roughly 48 hours: Wait, no Nikola Jokic? There's a good chance Jokic eventually becomes the greatest player in franchise history, but he's just 25 years old.

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Mutombo, on the other hand, is a Hall of Famer and produced probably the most iconic image in franchise history, celebrating the historic upset of the top-seeded Seattle SuperSonics in the 1994 playoffs. Mutombo is the defensive anchor behind a pure scoring lineup that could outgun just about anybody.

English, Anthony and Thompson all averaged better than 20 points a game for their careers, but at their peaks were pushing 30 PPG. Add in a floor general like Lafayette "Fat" Lever to pull the strings, and it could work. Between Fat, Melo and Dikembe, the Nuggets can outname just about anybody, too.

-- Royce Young

Golden State Warriors

G: Stephen Curry G: Klay Thompson F: Kevin Durant F: Draymond Green C: Wilt Chamberlain

Adding Chamberlain to the Durant-era Warriors teams that won back-to-back titles would just be unfair. Can you even imagine how dominant that team would be? Curry, Thompson, Durant and Green already have won titles together -- and now they have one of the greatest big men of all time to drop the ball to down low? Unbelievable. The defense is great, the offense is otherworldly.

It's tough leaving Hall of Famers Rick Barry and Chris Mullin out of this group, but who would come out? Curry and Thompson form the best shooting backcourt of all time. Durant is one of the best players of his generation and Green provides the defensive intensity and glue that has propelled them for years -- plus those four already have played together. There is no stopping this team. A juggernaut for the ages.

-- Nick Friedell

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Houston Rockets

G: James Harden G: Calvin Murphy F: Tracy McGrady F: Rudy Tomjanovich C: Hakeem Olajuwon

Apologies to Hall of Fame big men Elvin Hayes, Moses Malone and Yao Ming, but it's hard to get one center in the Houston lineup these days. Of course, there's no debate about the candidacy of Olajuwon, who remains the best player in franchise history, even after Harden's run of historic offensive production.

Harden is 22 points away from passing Murphy for second on the Rockets' career scoring list, so for now the flamboyant, 5-foot-9 Murphy continues to be the only player who ranks among the franchise's top two in points and assists.

Rudy T is best remembered as the Clutch City-era coach and for the brutal punch that interrupted his playing career, but he earned his spot here with five All-Star appearances during a career spent entirely in a Rockets uniform.

-- MacMahon

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LA Clippers

G: Chris Paul F: Kawhi Leonard F: Blake Griffin F: Elton Brand C: Bob McAdoo

Paul and Griffin authored the greatest and most exciting era in Clippers basketball with Lob City. Paul spent six seasons with the Clips, was first-team All-NBA three times and led the league in assists twice during that span. Griffin was Rookie of the Year, a five-time All-Star and the exciting, above-the-rim player the franchise sorely needed.

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Brand spent seven seasons with the team and made both of his All-Star appearances as a Clipper. McAdoo started his Hall of Fame career when the franchise was in Buffalo, where he led the league in scoring three straight seasons and was MVP in 1974-75.

Leonard is just 51 games into his Clippers tenure, but his elite production already puts him on this roster. Averaging 26.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists, a healthy Leonard can further validate this choice if he can get the Clippers to the conference finals for the first time.

-- Ohm Youngmisuk

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Los Angeles Lakers

G: Magic Johnson G: Jerry West G: Kobe Bryant F: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar C: Shaquille O'Neal

Four of these picks were no-brainers. Johnson (fifth in career assists) teamed up with Abdul-Jabbar, the NBA's career scoring leader, to win five championships. Bryant (fourth all time in scoring) paired with O'Neal (eighth in scoring) to win three.

The fifth pick was harder. Is it Elgin Baylor, the greatest small forward in franchise history? Or how about LeBron James, the greatest small forward in NBA history? How about James Worthy, who teamed up with Magic and Kareem and won a Finals MVP?

Ultimately, the pick is West. Baylor never won a ring. James hasn't been a Laker long enough. Worthy would have to play the 4 and you already have Shaq and the Captain on the blocks. The Logo brings shooting and toughness and leadership, and he is extremely important to the franchise as a whole for his post-playing days in the front office.

-- Dave McMenamin

Memphis Grizzlies

G: Mike Conley G: Tony Allen F: Shareef Abdur-Rahim F: Zach Randolph C: Marc Gasol

The question with the Grizzlies: Who should be the final player to fill out a lineup that features the Grit 'n' Grind mainstays called the Core Four? (I'd make a joke about Chandler Parsons' max contract, but I want to be welcomed back to Memphis.)

Based purely on merit, Pau Gasol would be the pick, but he doesn't fit alongside his brother Marc at center and Randolph at power forward. So we will go with Abdur-Rahim, who was a really good player for some really bad teams in Vancouver, averaging 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game over five seasons in which the Grizzlies went a combined 86-292.

-- MacMahon

Minnesota Timberwolves

G: Ricky Rubio G: Sam Cassell F: Kevin Garnett F: Kevin Love C: Karl-Anthony Towns

The three best players in franchise history just all happen to be big men: Garnett, Love and Towns. Garnett is the franchise leader in points, rebounds, steals, assists and blocks; he's the only player in NBA history to lead a team in all five categories. Towns (22.7 points, 11.8 rebounds in 358 games) and Love (19.2 points, 12.2 rebounds in 364 games) each put up monster numbers, even though playoff success never came.

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(Side note: Towns is only 14 3-pointers away from becoming the franchise's all-time leader. Seriously.)

Rubio trails only Garnett in franchise history in steals and assists. Since Wally Szczerbiak and Andrew Wiggins were primarily listed as small forwards, the other guard spot goes to Cassell, who played only two years in Minnesota but had a career year and was a second-team All-NBA selection in 2003-04.

-- Andrew Lopez

New Orleans Pelicans

G: Chris Paul G: Jrue Holiday F: Jamal Mashburn F: David West C: Anthony Davis

(Just a reminder: The Pelicans' franchise history starts in 2002, when the team moved from Charlotte to New Orleans. Anything before that belongs to Charlotte, even though it's the same franchise. Got it? Cool, let's move on.)

First, the locks: Davis, Paul, Holiday and West. Now once you get to the wing ... oof. This spot came down to four players -- Mashburn, Peja Stojakovic, Eric Gordon and, yes, Brandon Ingram.

Mashburn, in the franchise's first season in New Orleans in 2002-03, made the All-Star team and was a third-team All-NBA selection. The Pelicans didn't get another All-Star selection from a wing player until this year, when Ingram made it. But with only 56 games under his belt, Ingram falls off this list. Gordon's time in New Orleans always seemed underwhelming. Stojakovic was a key cog on the 2007-08 team that won a franchise-best 56 games, but he struggled with injuries.

Mashburn was limited to 101 games for New Orleans, but his impact in Year 1 was unmistakable and he still sits second on the team's career scoring average list (21.5), behind only Davis.

-- Lopez

Oklahoma City Thunder

G: Russell Westbrook G: James Harden F: Kevin Durant F: Paul George F: Serge Ibaka

There's an irony to the Thunder's all-time starting five, because it features their best sixth man. The baggage of Harden's role looms large, whether he wanted to come off the bench, whether starting impacted his contract negotiations and ultimately facilitated the breakup of one of the greatest organically built superteams ever. That's a lot to unpack.

Hindsight and what-ifs aside, the Thunder's all-time group can stand with almost any in NBA history, and most certainly is among the most stout in the past 20 years. The Thunder have been around for just 12 years and boast a remarkable cupboard of talent: three MVPs (Durant, Westbrook, Harden) and piles of All-NBA and All-Star nods. Maybe one of the best examples of how deep they are is in showcasing who didn't make the cut: Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul. Not a bad bench.

-- Young

Phoenix Suns

G: Steve Nash G: Kevin Johnson F: Walter Davis F: Charles Barkley C: Amar'e Stoudemire

No Shawn Marion? No Paul Westphal? No Alvan Adams? No Larry Nance? No Jason Kidd? You can make a solid starting five from the next group of Phoenix legends.

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The franchise's two MVP winners, Nash and Barkley, were locks. Westphal split time as a point guard and shooting guard during his six seasons, but we give the nod at the other guard spot to Johnson, who spent 12 years in Phoenix, and had three consecutive 20-point, 10-assist seasons and five All-NBA nods.

Davis vs. Marion was a tough battle. Both made a pair of All-NBA teams (two second-teams for Davis compared to two third-teams for Marion), but Davis gets the edge as the franchise's leading scorer. At center, Stoudemire stands supreme as his four All-NBA honors best Adams' longevity.

-- Lopez

Portland Trail Blazers

G: Damian Lillard G: Clyde Drexler G: Brandon Roy F: LaMarcus Aldridge C: Bill Walton

As with any conversation about Blazers history, their starting five comes with plenty of introspective sighing and deep what-iffing. Injuries to Walton and Roy abbreviated what would've been legendary Portland careers. But at their best versions, Walton was a transcendent big man with unique skills, and Roy was a gifted scorer with a knack for the moment.

Drexler is a Hall of Famer who led Portland to its best sustained run of success in franchise history. Aldridge is one of the dominant scoring big men of his era, and Lillard will likely go down as the franchise's all-time best. The Blazers are haunted by history and a compulsion to live in the anguish of what could've been, but there is also a beauty to their all-time five. It represents who they are, and forever, what they might've been.

-- Young

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Sacramento Kings

G: Oscar Robertson G: Tiny Archibald F: Peja Stojakovic F: Chris Webber C: Jerry Lucas

A Hall of Fame backcourt of Robertson and Archibald knocks Kings great Mitch Richmond out of one of the two guard spots. Lucas, another Hall of Famer, averaged 19.6 points and 19.1 rebounds in six seasons with the Cincinnati Royals. He gets the center position.

For the forwards, we look at two Kings from the early 2000s, when Sacramento was a perennial playoff team. Stojakovic is still the franchise's leader in 3-pointers made, and Webber averaged 23.5 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks in 377 career games in Sacramento.

It feels weird not to have DeMarcus Cousins on the all-time Kings squad, but when you look back at the franchise's history -- which dates back to the Rochester Royals and their first year in the NBA in 1949 -- it becomes clearer why he doesn't make the cut.

-- Lopez

San Antonio Spurs

G: Tony Parker G: Manu Ginobili F: George Gervin F: Tim Duncan C: David Robinson

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It took about as long as the average Gregg Popovich sideline interview to come up with this squad. These were all easy decisions, considering each player's combination of greatness and longevity with the Spurs. (Kawhi Leonard would have been in strong consideration if not for the lack of the latter.)

Duncan and Robinson are on the short list of MVPs who played their entire careers for one franchise. Ginobili and Parker were essential parts of a dynasty. Gervin was a must-see superstar whose presence made sure that pro basketball stuck in small-market San Antonio.

-- MacMahon

Seattle SuperSonics

G: Gary Payton G: Gus Williams F: Detlef Schrempf F: Shawn Kemp C: Jack Sikma

Payton, Kemp and Sikma, the three players to make at least five All-Star appearances in Sonics uniforms, are the three certain selections here. At the other guard spot, there are strong cases for Fred Brown (who's second in career scoring) and Ray Allen (a four-time All-Star in Seattle), but Gus Williams' key role in the Sonics' 1979 championship and pair of All-NBA picks give him the nod.

Spencer Haywood reached greater heights and Rashard Lewis had more longevity, but with the last spot I'm going with Schrempf, whose versatile and efficient game was ahead of its time in the 1990s.

-- Kevin Pelton

Utah Jazz

G: John Stockton G: Pete Maravich F: Adrian Dantley F: Karl Malone C: Rudy Gobert

The Jazz's arena is located at the intersection of Stockton and Malone, with statues of the legends prominently featured out front, so we figured those guys should make the cut. Dantley was a historically elite scorer for the Jazz, averaging 29.6 points on 56.2% shooting and winning a pair of NBA scoring titles during his seven-season tenure in Utah.

Gobert gets the nod over fellow dominant defensive anchor Mark Eaton because he's a far superior offensive player and rebounder. It was difficult not to include Darrell Griffith, aka "Dr. Dunkenstein," but Pistol Pete was too productive (25.7 points and 5.7 assists per game) with the New Orleans Jazz to be left out. Source - ESPN

#nba

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aironwrites · 5 years

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Durant’s Endless Chase for Immortality

In the summer of 2016, the NBA’s top free agent Kevin Durant made a decision that ruined his image in the eyes of millions. Three years, two championships, and two Finals MVP’s later the world was beginning to forget about that awful decision, but that’s when Kevin Durant went and proved all of the millions right.

In 2007, the Seattle SuperSonics (Who would become the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2008) drafted Kevin Durant from the University of Texas with the second overall pick in the NBA Draft. Durant was coming off of an amazing year at Texas where he averaged 25 PPG (points per game) and 11 RPG (rebounds per game). He was one of the top prospects heading into the draft, but despite that he wasn’t selected number one overall. That honor, instead, went to Greg Oden.

Since being drafted by Seattle/Oklahoma City, Kevin Durant would go on to do great things in the league. He won the rookie of the year award for the 2007-2008 season and he would lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to multiple playoff appearances and even a Finals appearance. Kevin Durant led the league in scoring four separate times and eventually he would win the MVP award for the 2013-2014 season. However, the most important run in Kevin Durant’s tenure came in the 2011-2012 season when he won a scoring title and led the Oklahoma City Thunder to the NBA Finals. This was Durant’s moment, as he was set to face the powerhouse Miami Heat led by the once in a lifetime talent LeBron James. Durant and the Thunder would fall short of victory to the Heat and watched as LeBron would celebrate his first NBA title.

Ever since that defeat, things would begin to change for Kevin Durant. The following year, he failed to defend his scoring title but despite that the Oklahoma City Thunder still finished the season with a 60-22 record and the number one seed in the western conference. The Thunder looked good behind the leadership of Kevin Durant and other superstar teammate Russell Westbrook, up until Westbrook tore his miniscus and was forced to miss the remainder of the playoffs. Durant and the rest of the Thunder would fail to make it through the second round.

Now this is where things begin to get interesting, as Durant would follow the early loss in the playoffs by taking more action on the team. He would go on to win the MVP award the next season and led the Thunder to the western conference finals before losing to the San Antonio Spurs. However, you could see a shift in Durant’s play. He was more of a difference maker than ever before and it was almost a guarantee that the Thunder would be contenders for a long time to come. That is, until the Golden Stare Warriors started their Dynasty.

The Golden State Warriors had just begun to get hot. They had made a few playoff appearances but never seemed to get over the hump. However, during the 2014-2015 season, that seemed to change. With LeBron James signing with the Cleveland Cavaliers after winning two titles in Miami, everybody’s focus was on the return of the King to his hometown of Cleveland. Nobody really paid attention to the Warriors. Behind a solid core of players including Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, and Andrew Bogut, the Warriors would go on to finish the year 67-15 and as the number one seed in the west, they would almost too easily find themselves in the Finals against LeBron and the Cavs. Of course, since the Cavs were the talk of the season, the Warriors were considered underdogs, but they proved everybody wrong by beating the King in the Finals to win their first championship in 40 years. Steph Curry would be awarded the MVP for the season and the Bay Area was feeling on top of the world... and they were just getting started.

The Warriors followed their championship season by looking absolutely unbeatable. They won their first 24 games in a row and would go on to break the 95-96 Bulls regular season record of 72-10 when they finished the year with 73 wins and 9 losses. Steph Curry would also go on to win his second straight MVP award. The Warriors were looking unbeatable in the playoffs as well, at least, until they ran into Kevin Durant and the Thunder. People had forgotten about the Thunder in the wake of the Warriors and Spurs success. But the Thunder were a hot team and Durant was beginning to get tired of getting overlooked. Durant and the Thunder came at the defending champs hard taking a nice 3-1 lead in the series, but that was when Steph Curry and the Warriors showed who they were exactly. The defending champs rallied to win three straight games to defeat the Thunder to advance to the Finals for the second straight year to find themselves facing LeBron and the Cavs again.

Now this is where things get REALLY interesting. The Warriors would run into multiple problems in the 2016 Finals, despite being the better team. They found themselves leading the series 3-1 before LeBron James with the help of Kyrie Irving came back to win the series and win their first championship in Cleveland’s franchise history. It’s arguable, however, that the Warriors would have won the series if Draymond Green didn’t get suspended in a game where he probably shouldn’t have. That argument aside, the Warriors fell short of a historic finish to a historic season.

The offseason of 2016 is where the story comes to a climax. Kevin Durant, after having lost to the Warriors in the conference finals, was now becoming a free agent and he was set to get paid a ton of money to be the top guy on any given team. Durant took meetings with teams such as the LA Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and surprisingly, the Golden State Warriors. Despite reports of Durant’s interest in staying in Oklahoma City, he announced that he would be signing with the Golden State Warriors. Yes, the team that won 73 games the year before and probably should have been a back-to-back champion, had just signed a four time scoring champion and a former MVP. You can understand why the public was upset. In fact, everybody except Warrior fans found the signing unrespectable.

Unsurprisingly, the Warriors (now centered around Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Kevin Durant) destroyed the league and went on to win the championship after going 16-1 in the playoffs. Kevin Durant would go on to win the Finals MVP award for being the best player on the winning team in the Finals. The following year after that, the Warriors ran into a few injury problems, but still managed to destroy the league and go on to win yet another championship. In that Finals series, Steph Curry looked like the clear favorite to win the MVP award for the Finals but somehow it ended up in the hands of Kevin Durant. The move seemed to pay off for Durant as he now had what he so desperately wanted. Two championships, two Finals MVP awards, and one more season to do it again. Yet still, something was missing for Durant.

The following year, being the 2018-2019 NBA season, the Warriors were the team to beat. From the beginning of the season there was speculation that Kevin Durant would be leaving the franchise whether they won a title or didn’t and that he would go to play for the New York Knicks after. Despite these rumors, the Warriors were still the best team in the league and they would go on to earn the number one seed in the western conference. The Warriors defeated the LA Clippers in the first round of the playoffs and were seeming to have problems with Houston Rockets in the second round. The series was tied 2-2 and it was game five when Kevin Durant went down with a calf injury. The best player on the best team in the league had been injured and for most people, they thought it would’ve been an opportunity for the Rockets to beat the monster of a team in the Warriors. Those people must’ve forgotten who the Warriors’ true superstars are. Behind their core three players, Curry, Thompson, and Green, the Warriors would go on to win game 5 and game 6, defeating the Rockets and moving on to face the Portland Trailblazers in the conference finals. They didn’t stop there though, Curry was untouchable in the next series and the Trailblazers went down quietly as they got swept by the Durant-less Warriors allowing the Warriors to advance to their fifth straight finals appearance in franchise history.

I know what you’re thinking; the Warriors never needed Durant in the first place, right? Well, it certainly looked that way, but most of us were proven wrong by that assumption. The Warriors struggled against Kawhi Leanord and the Toronto Raptors in the Finals and found themselves down 3-1. But we’ve heard this story before, haven’t we? Kevin Durant comes back in game 5 and looks untouchable in his own right, scoring 11 points in the first quarter. The Warriors looked like a team that was going to come back and defeat the Raptors, that was, until Durant tore his achilles. Only a few minutes into the second quarter, Durant went down and this time, there was no coming back. He had very obviously torn his achilles and would be gone for the rest of the series and probably all of the next season. The Warriors rallied behind Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, however, and found themselves able to defeat the Raptors in game 5 forcing a game 6 back in the Bay Area. Either way, Durant or no Durant, the Raptors were looking in trouble. The Warriors were competing at a high level in game 6 and were holding a lead for most of the game. And then the real shocker happened. Klay Thompson, the next best player behind Curry and Durant, would tear his ACL on a dunk. The air had been knocked out of the Warriors lungs for the last time. Curry and Green fought alongside their bench players, but Kawhi and the Raptors were too much. They would go on to lose game 6 and the Raptors had won their first NBA title in franchise history.

The story fixed Durant’s image in the eyes of millions who believed him to be a snake. All of the haters who thought that he shouldn’t have joined such a powerhouse team already, were proven wrong in just how much the Warriors needed him... or were they? The argument could be made that the Warriors still never needed Durant. Afterall, they lost only one playoff series without him in their entire tenure as this dynasty. And their record with him sitting out or being injured was pretty astonishing at 30 wins and 4 losses. Does one series really show how important Durant is?

The 2019 free agency is where all of the truths came out. Despite Durant being ruled out for the entire 2019-2020 season, many teams were still willing to offer him a max contract, including the Warriors. And despite the Warriors being the obvious best option when it comes to winning championships, Durant chose a different route. Within minutes of free agency opening, Durant signed with the Brooklyn Nets to play alongside Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan. That’s when everything became clear.

Durant left Oklahoma City because he wanted to win a championship, but why was winning a championship so important? Because everybody accumulates greatness with championships. At least, that’s what Durant thought. However, after winning two championships and being named Finals MVP for both of them, Durant was still not as important as LeBron James was. It could even be argued that Durant wasn’t even as important to his own team as superstar Steph Curry was. And that’s where Durant needs to come to see the reality of things.

LeBron James was the No. 1 overall pick in his draft while Durant was the No. 2. LeBron has won the MVP award 2 times and Durant has only won it once. LeBron has been to the Finals 9 times in his career and has won a title 3 times. Durant has been to the finals 4 times in his career and has won 2 titles. Despite all of that, what makes LeBron James the superstar of this generation, the same way that Jordan and Kobe were the superstars of theirs, is that he makes a difference on a team just by being on the team. Kevin Durant does not do that.

The Warriors were successful before Durant, and they will be successful after Durant. The Thunder, since Durant leaving the team, have seen Russell Westbrook win MVP and have made the playoffs without Durant. And now that Durant is on the Nets, he may or may not win a championship, but if he doesn’t then he has left that organization exactly where it started. And that is something that LeBron James has not done in his career. That is something that Kobe and Jordan did not do in their career. If Kevin Durant was to be immortalized like LeBron, Jordan, and Kobe, then he needs to be the reason why a team goes from last place to the Finals, not from losing in the Finals to winning a title. Because, guess what, they probably would’ve done that without you.

#nba #nbafinals #kevindurant #warriors #nets #espn

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benchonaquest · 2 years

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These 18 NBA teams made the most 3-pointers in one game

Okay, it might be time to move the three point line back. It’s no surprise that in this era of emphasized three-point shooting and position-less basketball that individual, franchise, combined, and season records are being broken seemingly every week. More on that at the end of this article.

List of NBA teams with Most 3-pointers in a Game

For many years, the record for the most threes in a game was set by the Orlando Magic with 23 back in 2009. That team was anchored by Dwight Howard and surrounded by Jameer Nelson, Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, and J.J. Redick. That record was then tied in 2013 by a James Harden-led Houston Rockets team, but the league hadn’t fully-adopted the three as the focus of their offensive schemes as they have today.

Fast forward to the Steph Curry-led Warriors and the game has completely changed from an inside-out approach to a perimeter-heavy offense. Since 2017, that record of 23 made threes made by one team has been surpassed dozens of times over.

It’s no surprise that these records were set in the last few years with the league heavily relying three-point shooting. The team that holds the record for most three-pointers in one game is the Milwaukee Bucks who hit an amazing 29 threes in 51 three point attempts (56.9%) in a blowout win against the Miami Heat.

NBA Teams with Most Threes in One GameThreesTeamDateGame Info

29 Milwaukee Bucks (12/29/2020) Read more

28 Houston Rockets (02/01/2021) Read more

28 Utah Jazz (02/23/2021) Read more

27 Houston Rockets04/07/2019Read more

27 Brooklyn Nets02/15/2021Read more

27 Utah Jazz12/03/2021Read more

27 Golden State Warriors05/08/2021 Read more

26 Houston Rockets12/19/2018Read more

26 Minnesota Timberwolves02/08/2020 Read more

26 Utah Jazz02/05/2021 Read more / Utah Jazz 04/03/2021Read more

26Milwaukee Bucks11/10/2021Read more

25 Cleveland Cavaliers03/03/2017 Read more

25 Houston Rockets 02/20/2020Read more

25 L.A. Clippers (08/01/2020) Read more

25 Utah Jazz (01/08/2021) Read more

25 Chicago Bulls (02/10/2021) Read more

25 Dallas Mavs (02/12/2021) Read more

25 Phoenix Suns (04/12/2021) Read more

Think about that: The league record for most threes made by one team sat at 23 three point field goals made for thirty years. Then in a last several seasons – since 2016 — that long-standing three-point record has been surpassed 17 times. It’s most certainly a sign of the times.

The Three Ball Era

That’s not to place a magnifying glass solely on the Rockets as the entire league has prioritized the three point shot into their overall offensive (and defensive) approach to the game. We’re not sure what the inventors of the three pointer had in mind when they came up with the three-point line, but I’m sure they’re smiling watching today’s NBA.

#basketball records #NBA basketball #basketball #sports #LAClippers #WeRepLAC #Los Angeles #LouWilliams

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basketballphd · 6 years

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Welcome To A New Season

A new NBA season is nearly here. The preseason has already begun, LeBron is a Laker, NBA twitter is scandalous and beautiful, and I’m glad you’re deciding to join this ride with me this season! To kick this thing off right, I’d thought we’d start with some teams that I’m looking out for and some early predictions. While I have a couple of degrees, none of them are in basketball, just a fan here for the jokes with strong opinions.

Western Conference

Los Angeles Lakers

If you can’t stand Lakers fans, this is not the blog for you. CAUSE WE BACK, BABY. LeBron is here and the last five years were all worth it. Anytime LeBron is in uniform, I’m interested, but in purple and gold, I’m ecstatic. He’s the best player in the league who managed to drag a half a pack of gum, two Tic-Tacs, and Kevin Love to the NBA Finals. He changes everything and Lord knows LA needs a change. Any length of time that the Clippers are “better” than the Lakers is a time I don’t want to live in.

While LeBron should be the primary reason you turn on the Laker game, the rest of that team should be what you stay to watch. After screaming my lungs out for joy when LeBron announced his signing, my happiness was tempered by perhaps the most confusing series of signings I’ve seen since the Lakers signed Timofey Mozgov (don’t even get me started). Lance Stephenson, Rajon Rondo, JaVale McGee, and Michael Beasley. Sounds like a dream team, amirite? Look, normally I’m here for the jokes to be made. And I plan on making some of those jokes. But making the playoffs is no laughing matter. This is either going to be the best thing ever or a train wreck. But I’m too happy the season is back to choose the latter!

Golden State Warriors

The behemoth is back and somehow stronger than ever. I almost passed out when they signed DeMarcus Cousins (and remain furious at the Lakers for not doing the same). But they are who they are, and I ain’t gonna lie, I need to see this starting five line-up with Cousins. If he is even half of what he was before his Achilles popped, whew, we ALL in trouble. Either way, they are the obvious forerunners for the championship this year.

Houston Rockets

My greatest finals fear almost came to fruition this year when the Rockets almost beat the Warriors and the Celtics almost beat the Cavs. As a Houstonian, I would not have been able to stay at home if the Rockets won a championship. And I would have cried if the Celtics won. Fortunately, catastrophe was avoided and I imagine the same will happen this year. Although Houston is still very good, their window was that Game 7. They will be worse on defense losing some of their key players and losing their defensive coordinator. And then there is the problem of Chris Paul’s legs. I watched a lot of Rocket games, and I can’t see how else they could have better preserved his body over the season. And his hamstring still went out. I don’t see any reason to trust he’ll be able to make it through the season and the playoffs. Even with the addition of Carmelo, who should fit in with their offensive style, they didn’t get better. We need not mention Melo’s defensive abilities here.

Minnesota Timberwolves

Mainly for the jokes. Especially if they make Jimmy Butler come back, which is a terrible idea. That team is incomprehensible. There was no reason for them to be an eighth seed with the talent they had and if he comes back, oh buddy, believe me there will be drama because it is clear none of those dudes like each other.

Oklahoma City Thunder

I really don’t know what to say here. I am surprised that Paul George decided to stay. And they should be better. Losing Andre Roberson really hurt them defensively last year, so having him back should drastically improve the situation, even with Melo’s departure. I’m really just here, though, for Russell Westbrook’s petty. It is a beautiful sight. Brings tears to my eyes.

San Antonio Spurs

I don’t recognize this team. All of the old guard is gone and their bridge to the future is shopping for coats in Canada right about now. Only Pop remains, and even he may be packing it up soon. With DeMar, they are as good a lock as any to make the playoffs, but where they go from there is anyone’s guess. I always trust the Spurs to do something, but the options are bleak.

Los Angeles Clippers

They suck again! You should also be aware that my petty is everlasting.

Eastern Conference

Boston Celtics

You have no idea how much it pains me to write anything positive about the Celtics. I hate their uniforms. I hate their arena. I hate the popcorn they sell in concessions. I especially hate the fact that they are excellent when the Lakers are not. After last season’s playoff run without their two supposedly best players, I can see no other option but to say they’re the Eastern Conference leaders of the pack for the season. With both Irving and Hayward coming back healthy, they are clearly the team to beat. Lord help me.

Philadelphia 76ers

Now, the Sixers are the obvious choice for second in the Eastern Conference. With Simmons and Embiid as their emerging perennial All-Stars and still healthy, and with Markelle Fultz back with his shot apparently intact, there seems to be no stopping them. But I’m just not sold. A struggle for power between Simmons and Embiid might be brewing. And for them to struggle so hard last year against a barely there Miami Heat team and the injured Celtics, leaves me unconvinced. But they are a year older and less injured and with some more experience, so maybe the Process will finally be a success.

Toronto Raptors

Despite the saltiness of DeMar DeRozan (and boy, was he sal-ty), Toronto came out ahead by getting Kawhi Leonard in that trade, no question. If he’s healthy, he’s easily a top three player in the league and DeMar is decidedly…not. And Toronto needed a new start after LeBron torched their team and renamed their city for the third year in a row. And again, if healthy, Kawhi is good enough to put them over the Sixers in my opinion and up there with Boston in the regular season. Now I know better than to put any faith in Toronto during the playoffs, even with Kawhi. Something in that city causes jerseys to get tight during the playoffs, especially if that jersey belongs to Kyle Lowry.

Milwaukee Bucks

Giannis. Literally just watch for Giannis.

Washington Wizards

Add Dwight Howard to the cauldron of pettiness that is the Wizards and this is bound to be interesting. Howard can still produce, John Wall and Bradley Beal are still who they are, so they should give anyone who plays them a good run.

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dfaerhng · 3 years

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and was taken out of the game 13 seconds later

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Llull, que con dos triples consecutivos selló un parcial de 11 0 que abrió la primera brecha en el marcador (20 11, min 8).Los andorranos aguantaban como podían las acometidas de un Real Madrid que mejoraba sus prestaciones con el paso de los minutos y que logró terminar nueve arriba (27 18) un primer cuarto en el que aún fue más abultada la diferencia en valoración entre ambas plantillas (33 13).Poco cambió en la reanudación. El intercambio de canastas favorecía a los líderes de la fase regular, que no acusaban las rotaciones y tenían bajo control un partido trabado en el que costaba demasiado sumar canastas (35 22, min 15).Felipe Reyes, con su habitual lucha bajo aros y su imán para los rebotes, y Othello Hunter aportaban puntos a los de Pablo Laso en la zona, aunque los andorranos no se querían ir del partido antes de tiempo en busca del sueo de las semifinales y fueron capaces de dominar el segundo cuarto y bajar su desventaja al descanso hasta los siete puntos (46 39).La intensidad del choque aumentó tras el paso por vestuarios. Rudy dio aire a los suyos con sendos triples, pero el MoraBanc no daba su brazo a torcer.

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imjustthemechanic · 6 years

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The French Mistake

Part 1/? - A Visitor Part 2/? - The Kulturhistorisk Museum Heist Part 3/? - Cutscene Part 4/? - The Marvel Cinematic Universe Part 5/? - Breathless Part 6/? - Escape at Last Part 7/? - Fox in Socks Part 8/? - Things Go Wrong Part 9/? - Downey and Out Part 10/? - Road Trip Part 11/? - Temptation Part 12/? - An Awful Reunion Part 13/? - Unreality Intrudes Part 14/? - A Call for Help Part 15/? - Loki’s Guests Part 16/? - Stan Lee Cameo Part 17/? - Reassessment Part 18/? - Midnight Invasion Part 19/? - Elevator Fight Part 20/? - Courage Part 21/? - Unwelcome Back Part 22/? - Darkest Hour Part 23/? - They Are Here Part 24/? - The Jet Propulsion Laboratory Part 25/? - Word of God

When you need to know the secrets of the Marvel universe, there’s only one person to ask.

“Sixteen hours?” asked Kevin. “Jesus.”

Steve wanted to tell her not to take the Lord’s name in vain, but he still remembered the weeks of ribbing he’d gotten the last time he’d asked somebody to mind their language.

“In sixteen hours,” she said carefully. “I might be able to draw a decent picture of it.”

“What if you skip all the testing stuff and just go for it?” Bob asked.

Donny cleared his throat. “I was in this movie a while back. The Martian. Did you see it?”

“You gotta understand,” Kevin added, “I’m just one person and I’ve got other stuff to do. I’m also trajectory on Europa Clipper, and there’s Mars 2020, and the Ice Giant mission we’re still trying to hammer out… Mike was very clear that it’s all gotta stay in the pipeline just in case we survive this.”

“Right, right,” said Steve. His brain was starting to recover from the shock six months had given it, and he was now trying to figure a way around it. “So instead of snatching the wormhole machine out from under their noses and running, we’re actually going to have to permanently neutralize the Chi’Tauri. Then we’ll have to be on guard for a while in case the ones back in our universe get tired of waiting and send another group.” The promise of a quick victory had slipped away into the looming dread of a long siege, but they would just have to deal with it. “So we need to figure out how to capture or kill them.”

“I am not flying any nukes anywhere,” said Bob. “Just to get that out of the way.”

“You killed quite a few of them during the Battle of New York, didn’t you?” Hayley asked. “How did you do it then?”

“By hitting them really, really hard,” said Natasha.

That didn’t work here, as their attempt to fight in the convention centre had already proved – without the serum, Thor’s Asgardian strength, or Natasha’s enhancements, they just couldn’t hit hard enough. “They all collapsed when the nuke went off,” said Steve. “Fury said the scientists figured some kind of connection with the mother ship had been broken.” If they couldn’t get a bomb into space, doing that again was going to be difficult.

“They must have some kind of weakness,” Hayley said. “Aliens in comic books always do.”

Steve’s brain, which had been roiling a moment ago as he tried to think, came to a dead halt. Comic books.

“What?” Hayley asked, seeing his expression change. “Do you know what it is?”

“No,” said Steve, “but we know who does!” He reached into one pocket, then the other, and then realized they’d all left their phones back at the hotel in Canada during their hurried escape. “We need a phone. And we need… does anybody have Stan Lee’s number?”

Hayley brought her hands together, a delighted smile on her face. “Of course!” she said.

“I’ve got it!” Bob pulled a phone out of his jacket and scrolled through it.

“Use this one.” Kevin grabbed a yellowed 90’s cordless handset off another table. “It’s got a speaker.”

Steve picked up the receiver. “Isn’t that a new phone?” he asked Bob. “I mean, we left the hotel with nothing.”

“I saved my contacts in the cloud,” Bob said. “Our world might not have all that fancy hologram stuff, but we’re not barbarians!” He found the contact and showed the number to Steve, who started punching it in on the JPL phone. “Although Stan Lee didn’t create the Chi’Tauri,” he added. “I think that might have been Mark Miller…”

“Well, if Stan Lee doesn’t know, then he can probably give us the number of somebody who does,” said Steve. He turned on the speakerphone and set the handset in the middle of the table so everybody could hear and talk. It rang once, twice, then three times.

“He never answers right away,” said Bob, trying to sound encouraging. “And he doesn’t have voicemail. He says there’s no point because he’s not gonna listen to it anyway.”

A fifth ring, then a sixth… and then finally, on the tenth, there was the soft sound of a pickup.

“Stan Lee,” said the old man’s voice. “Marvel Allfather.”

“Hello!” said Steve. “This is Steve Rogers!”

“Oh, yes!” said Lee cheerfully. “I told you I’d run into you again. What can I do you for, Cap? No, wait, you gave up Captain America after Civil War, didn’t you? I’m still trying to convince the Russos to get you into the Nomad costume.”

Steve refused to let himself be distracted. “Stan,” he said, “we need to know what the Chi’Tauri’s weakness is.”

There was a pause. “What, you want me to just tell it to you?” Stan asked. “That’s cheating!”

“No, it’s not!” Steve protested. “We’re trying to save the world here!”

“No, no, no,” Stan insisted. “When the narrator pulls something out of nowhere to tie up the plot, that’s a deus ex machina and it’s been lazy writing ever since the time of the ancient Greeks! How would you feel if you woke up and found out this had all been a dream? You’d be disappointed, right? It’s the same thing.”

“Actually, I’d be okay with that,” said Steve. Waking up in his apartment in Wakanda and learning none of this had ever happened? He’d take it.

“Well, I’m not,” said Stan. “I’ve never approved of it, and I’m not going to start now.”

“This isn’t a story, Stan!” said Bob. “There are actual aliens in Houston and they’re gonna kill people.”

“It’s a story to somebody,” Stan insisted. “If the people in our stories actually exist in other universes, which they demonstrably do, then obviously we’re a story in somebody else’s, and I’d hate to give them a letdown ending.”

“Ah!” Hayley leaned forward. “But a deus ex machina is something that hasn’t already been established in the story’s world, right? Right? So you were pre-established! We met you in the hotel room and you gave us pointers there! It’s properly a part of the narrative universe, and you can do it again without cheating!”

There was no immediate reply. Steve waited, drumming his fingers impatiently.

“Stan?” asked Bob.

“I’m still here,” said Stan. “You know what? She’s right. Well done, Miss Atwell! Very well, then,” he decided. “The Chi’Tauri who are after you lot are drones. Remember when the wormhole closed in New York and they all just fell down?”

“Yeah, we were talking about that,” said Steve.

“They’re a hive-mind,” Stan explained, “and the center of their thought and initiative lies in the queen. If they haven’t got a queen within range, all they can do is lie there and drool.”

“So there are actually five of them here, then,” said Nat. “We haven’t seen the queen because they’re keeping her hidden.”

“Exactly,” Stan agreed. “Find the queen, and you can bring them all down at once and cart them off to Area 51 for dissection! Does that help?”

“Yeah,” said Steve. “That helps a lot.”

“Wonderful!” Stan said. “I’ll look forward to hearing about it later – bye now!” There was a click as he hung up.

Hayley reached out to turn off the handset. “I… I don’t think he really believes us,” she observed. “I think he considers this some big game.”

“No, he believes it,” said Bob. “Stan’s been waiting for something like this his entire life.”

“I don’t care if he believes it,” Steve decided. “As long as his advice is good.” He sat back and tried to make a list of tasks. “So… distract the Chi’Tauri, kill or incapacitate the queen, steal the wormhole machine and bring it back here so Kevin can figure out how to direct it, and then… deal with maybe six months more of Chi’Tauri incursions as they come after Loki again and again?”

“Optimistically six months,” Kevin reminded him. “I have honestly no idea.”

“When you put it that way, it sounds impossible,” said Hayley, discouraged.

“Nothing is impossible,” Thor assured her. “Some things are merely very difficult.”

“We’re used to impossible tasks,” said Nat. She rubbed her hands together. “Okay, where will they be hiding the queen? Loki, when you were working for the Chi’Tauri, did you ever…”

“I wasn’t working for them,” Loki interrupted her. “They were working for me. And I was never on board one of their frightful vessels. Those are for the rabble. I had better ways to get around. But,” he added, “they kept their queens on the mother ships that housed the Leviathans, far away from Earth where no threat could be present.”

“Okay, I can tell you categorically that there is no Chi’Tauri mothership in orbit of earth,” said Kevin. “We monitor earth orbit because it’s full of crap that can crash into satellites and make trouble. Besides, anything big enough to be considered a mothership, if it were between us and the moon you’d be able to see it from your backyard.”

“And we’re already pretty sure that one Leviathan’s all they’ve got,” Nat said, “because if they had more they’d send them. If they’ve got the queen with them, then she’s on board that.”

Loki sighed, and then took his glasses off with a scowl – but one that seemed to be directed at the glasses themselves rather than at anything else – and leaned forward. He obviously didn’t like talking about his time with the Chi’Tauri, but he recognized the need. “Considering the esteem in which the queens are held,” he said, “they would have had to alter the troop transport to let her live on board. They would not squeeze her into a little sleep pod like a common soldier.”

“Perhaps that is why there are a mere four of them,” Thor said. “Those we fought in New Yrok seemed to house dozens. We need to know what’s inside the vessel.” He looked at Bob.

Bob shook his head. “The whole thing was special effects, remember?” he asked. “A bunch of tech people put it all together in a computer while I was busy knocking up Susan. I don’t even remember what it was supposed to look like from the outside.”

“There were some people back down the hall who had blueprints or something,” Steve said, remembering the rooms they’d passed on the way in.

A quick search found the room in question – JPL employees ranging in age from twenty to seventy had a set of plans and concept art spread out on a table, and were poring over it while a nervous Marvel Studios executive hovered behind them, trying to discourage them from drawing on the original artwork with sharpies. Steve waited in the hall, leaning on the crutch the policewoman had given him, while Natasha marched in.

“Good afternoon, folks,” she said, and reached for the blueprint mockup they were examining.

They stared at her – especially the representative of the studio, a woman in a pea-green skirt suit, with gray streaks in her shoulder-length brown hair.

“Scarlett?” the woman asked.

“Natasha.” She held out her hands.

The employees started picking up the drawings and diagrams, loathe to part with them. Nat put her hands on her hips.

“Do you want us to beat up your aliens for you?” she asked. “Or should we just let them blow up Houston?”

“Give them to her,” the woman in green ordered. “I trust her with them better than I trust you guys.”

Word spread quickly, and soon it seemed like half the people at JPL had crowded into one of the big conference rooms, where three Avengers, three actors, and a specialist in orbital mechanics were trying to come up with a slightly more coherent plan. The woman in green, whose name seemed to be Iris, had loaded a 3D model of the Leviathan on a laptop, and Natasha was examining it.

“The single-person craft dock here.” She ran a finger down the side of the Leviathan as it rotated past. “So that’s where we’ll be going in, rather than at the mouth like Stark did.”

“The internal structure is relatively weak,” Bob noted. He’d found a packet of ‘astronaut ice cream’ somewhere, and was munching on the chalky-looking pink and white contents. “There’s been big arguments about that online – how Tony couldn’t scratch it from the outside but blew it up from the inside, and how it crumpled up when the Hulk punched it.”

“The vessels are not designed to operate under gravity, only within their own anti-gravity fields,” said Loki. “If your weapons or the monster’s fist damaged the anti-gravity generator, the whole machine could collapse under its own weight.”

“Like a sea serpent suffocating on a beach,” Thor agreed.

“So if we can lay some charges inside, we ought to be able to bring it down,” said Nat. “Especially if we can find the generator… that’s gotta be in the head,” she pointed, “if the Hulk managed to punch it.”

“Sounds good,” said Steve. They were starting to have a plan again, but there was still the matter of time. When he checked his watch again, they were now down to fourteen hours and twenty-six minutes.

#fanfic #steve rogers #natasha romanov

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junker-town · 3 years

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5 NBA stars who could be traded next

Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

The NBA stars who could get traded next, ranked by how soon they might move.

The NBA never goes too long without a superstar changing teams via a trade. The summer of 2017 saw Jimmy Butler traded to the Timberwolves and Chris Paul traded to the Rockets. In 2018, Kawhi Leonard was traded from the Spurs to the Raptors while Butler was dealt again to the 76ers. In 2019, Anthony Davis was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, Paul George was traded to the Clippers, and Paul was traded to Oklahoma City for Russell Westbrook. Paul was on the move again to the Suns in 2020, while James Harden’s trade request hung over the season until he was mercifully sent from the Rockets to the Nets two weeks into January.

The biggest trade of this offseason so far is the five-team deal headlined by Westbrook’s arrival to the Lakers. Now that most of the player movement in free agency has settled, all eyes will again turn to the trade market as players consider their futures and teams assemble their best offers should a star fully hit the market.

Since star trade speculation is always one of the biggest topics in the league, here’s a look at the big names who are rumored to (maybe) be the next to move, and when it could happen.

5. Karl Anthony-Towns

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

There has been speculation that Towns wouldn’t sign a third contract with the Timberwolves from the moment he inked his super max extension in 2018. That deal has three years and $101.3 million remaining, and Minnesota remains far away from contention.

Can Minnesota build a winner before Towns is up for a new deal? For as promising as Anthony Edwards looked in his rookie season, the West remains a gauntlet and there isn’t a clear path for the Wolves to make a big jump up the standings. It isn’t hard to envision a scenario where Towns signals he’d like to change teams when his deal is up, and Minnesota not wanting to lose him for nothing.

Towns remains one of the best skilled offensive bigs in the league with the ability to unleash high volume and highly accurate three-point shooting from the center position. Even with question marks defensively, there’s no doubt the soon-to-be 26-year-old looks like he will eventually be in line for another max deal. He can’t become a free agent until the summer of 2024.

4. Bradley Beal

When could it happen? Summer 2023 at the earliest.

Trade rumors have swirled around Beal for years as the Washington Wizards have struggled to build a sustainable contender following John Wall’s Achilles tear. Washington swapped Wall for Russell Westbrook and earned the No. 8 seed in last year’s playoffs, and then flipped Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers for a bunch of depth pieces at the 2021 draft. Beal was reportedly considering his future with the franchise in the run-up to those moves, but Washington’s latest bold move of the offseason — a sign-and-trade for Spencer Dinwiddie — seems to have quieted speculation that Beal could be on the move soon.

The latest reports from insider Shams Charania said Beal now has no intention of leaving the Wizards, and is eyeing a five-year, $235 million max extension next summer.

While the Wizards still don’t look like a contender in the East, this report makes sense from two different angles: a) Beal wants to lock in his long-term money before seeking a new team, and b) he might be impressed with the way the front office has re-tooled the roster after the Wall trade. Washington still has lots of work to do, but it’s possible Beal is happy there for now. There will be plenty of interested suitors readying big trade packages if the Wizards ever do finally deal him.

3. Damian Lillard

When could it happen? Summer 2022 at the earliest.

Damian Lillard has been vocal about his loyalty to the Portland Trail Blazers over the years, but that might finally be changing as he enters his 31-year-old season.

Dame was vocal about his disappointment after the Blazers were knocked out in the first round of the 2021 NBA Playoffs by a Denver Nuggets team that didn’t have injured star Jamal Murray. There was plenty of speculation Lillard could demand a trade this summer, but instead he’s made public comments pressuring the team to improve quickly. What happens if they don’t?

Portland re-signed Norman Powell to a $90 million deal, but otherwise their “big” free agent additions this offseason were Tony Snell and Cody Zeller. If Portland doesn’t make an all-in move before the season starts, it’s easy to envision a scenario where the team has another early exit in the playoffs and Lillard demands a trade in the summer of 2022.

A Lillard trade demand would likely be similar to Harden’s in Houston, with a list of preferences informing the market. The rest of the league will be waiting anxiously to see if the Blazers can fix things before Dame wants out.

2. Pascal Siakam

When could it happen? Any moment.

The Raptors won 50 or more games for five straight seasons before missing the playoffs (and play-in tournament) during a disastrous 27-45 season last year. Toronto had an easy excuse with the pandemic forcing the team to relocate to Tampa Bay for the season, but the loss of Kyle Lowry to the Miami Heat this offseason has quelled any optimism that Toronto could be a contender again next season.

The Raptors drafted Scottie Barnes at No. 4 overall, re-signed Gary Trent Jr. and Khem Birch, and otherwise haven’t done much yet to reshape the roster. It’s hard to tell what the long-term vision for Toronto is right now, which makes the reports that Pascal Siakam is available on the trade market even more difficult to decipher.

Siakam trade rumors have been out there all offseason. A recent report from Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bee states that the Sacramento Kings, Golden State Warriors, and Los Angeles Clippers are reportedly “enamored” with Siakam. The Warriors feel like the most tantalizing fit, with three lottery picks under 21 years old — James Wiseman, Moses Moody, and Jonathan Kuminga — potentially fitting the bill if Toronto is looking to rebuild.

It’s possible Siakam could be on the move later this offseason if the Raptors want to fully commit to a youth movement. There really shouldn’t be too much rush for Toronto, though. Siakam is coming off an underwhelming year by his standards and is under contract for the next three seasons. It’s certainly possible he could raise his trade value during the upcoming season if Toronto holds onto him, and there’s a more robust market for him at the deadline or in the summer of 2022.

1. Ben Simmons

When could it happen? Any moment.

The NBA has waited with bated breath for a Simmons deal to finally come to fruition ever since his immense offensive struggles contributed to a second round playoff flameout for the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers in June. Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid both appeared to throw Simmons under the bus after Philadelphia’s series-clinching loss to the Atlanta Hawks, setting off a wild summer of speculation about the 25-year-old All-Star’s future.

The draft came and went with Simmons still in Philadelphia. The Sixers didn’t do much in free agency, either, signing Andre Drummond and re-signing Danny Green but otherwise opting to keep the same team intact while they wait for the right offer for Simmons. What we appear to have now is an old fashioned standoff.

Simmons and agent Rich Paul reportedly want to be sent to a new team. Morey is asking for the world for Simmons at the moment. The real goal for Philly is likely to wait it out, let Simmons recoup some value, and then make him the centerpiece of a package for Lillard or Beal, should they ask out. Is the relationship between Simmons and the Sixers too broken to get that far?

The Simmons situation sure seems like it will be a major distraction if Morey lets it bleed into the season. At the same time, the team wants to make sure they can get the absolute best return for him. Until this is resolved, the Simmons trade rumors will remain one of the biggest stories in the NBA.

Wildcard: Zion Williamson

Williamson was reportedly a little bummed out that the Pelicans won the lottery when he was the clear No. 1 pick in the 2019 draft. There are already rumblings he isn’t happy in New Orleans only two seasons into his rookie deal. He hasn’t been shy about expressing his love for New York. The Pelicans’ offseason — whiffing on Kyle Lowry, letting go of Lonzo Ball, adding Devonte’ Graham and Tomas Satoransky as their headline acquisitions — hasn’t been super encouraging.

Williamson still has two years left on his rookie deal. Before his fourth season, he’ll be offered a max extension by New Orleans. If he doesn’t sign it, his only move is to play on the qualifying offer that would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent after his fifth season. It’s extremely rare for a superstar to turn down the money and play on the qualifying offer because of injury risk, and Williamson’s own extensive injury history would make that route an incredibly bold choice.

If Zion really does want out of New Orleans, his only move might be to publicly pressure the front office to trade him. The fanbase has been through this before with Chris Paul and then Anthony Davis, and will pray the Pelicans can take a huge leap up the standings before that happens. Williamson was amazing in his second season, and will only get better if he can stay healthy. For now, this is a situation to monitor even if Zion doesn’t have a lot of easy options.

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dpinoycosmonaut · 6 years

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WHERE TO, LeBRON?

by Bert A. Ramirez / July 1, 2018

There are plenty of marquee names on this year’s list of free agents in the NBA, among them Kevin Durant, Paul George, Chris Paul, DeMarcus Cousins and DeAndre Jordan, but nobody of course interests basketball buffs and NBA teams more than that of LeBron James. Everybody, after all, knows that Durant’s opting for free agency is just to have his contract restructured as he’s not leaving Oakland, while George and Paul, at this point, have made their intent known by sticking with Oklahoma City and Houston, respectively.

Paul has made it known on the first day of free agency that he’s going nowhere as he still has an “unfinished business” in Houston. The fact that he would be earning the maximum amount of $160 million in four years (that’s a cool $40 million per year) doesn’t hurt either. George, in something of a surprise, meanwhile, decided he’s not going to his hometown team of Los Angeles after all to play with the Lakers like he wanted a year ago (that in fact led to his trade by Indiana to OKC) but is opting to stick it out with Russell Westbrook to help lead the Thunder, perhaps with or without Carmelo Anthony in the long term. That’s in return for $34.25 million a year for four years, or a maximum package (for an eight-year veteran like him) of $137 million.

And the 6-11 Jordan is finally leaving the Clippers to, at last, cast his lot with Dallas in a move that fulfills an aborted commitment he verbally made to the Mavericks three years ago, which would have come to pass then if not for the persuasive effort of Clips coach and then-GM Doc Rivers that saw Rivers and a few Clips hound Jordan in “The Big D.” This one, however, was just for one year at about $24.1 million, after which point the Mavs and Jordan are expected to renegotiate, if things go well.

But what about James? Where will he take what are admittedly his still all-world talents and provide any team a fulcrum upon which to anchor its championship bid? The 33-year-old James, who will turn 34 on December 30, opted out of the remaining year of his Cleveland contract, and many are of the belief that he will again be leaving his home-state team that he first bolted in 2010 to join forces with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in an obviously preconceived plan by the three All-Stars while playing together on the US team that won the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. At that time, James took a lot of flak for an ill-conceived nationally televised announcement called “The Decision,” during which he infamously declared he was taking his “talents to South Beach” as if he wanted to rub it into his home team and its fans.

While that move eventually netted James his first two titles in 2012 and 2013, he again decided to leave the Heat in 2014 to return to the Cavaliers as he announced, “I’m coming home,” apparently in an effort to mend fences with Ohioans who resented his first departure from Cleveland. It was obvious, however, that it was also because James felt at the time that the Heat were an aging team and would soon retreat to the middle of the pack.

His first “transgression” against the Cavaliers was all but forgotten when the Cavs won the 2016 title, becoming the first NBA team to come from behind a 3-1 deficit in the finals to win it all and in the process ending Cleveland’s 52-year championship drought (the city’s last championship team was the Jim Brown-led Browns who won the National Football League title in 1964). It didn’t come without some help, by the way, as Golden State, which had earlier set the all-time-best regular-season record of 73-9, played the crucial Game 5 without Draymond Green, who was suspended for incurring his fourth flagrant foul of the playoffs in the Warriors’ Game 4 victory for a swing at James’ groin that did not connect, and the Warriors could not regain their bearing after that.

With the Cavaliers having been swept by the Warriors in this year’s championship series, making James the first player in history to get swept twice in the finals (his Cavs team was also blanked in 2007 by San Antonio), it’s obvious that the Cavs are no longer the team that it was back in 2016 or even 2017. Kyrie Irving, James’ chief spearcarrier and a near-equal in terms of magnitude of skills and offensive versatility, is now with the Boston Celtics, having asked for a trade in last year’s offseason apparently after having gotten tired of playing under the dominant shadows of James. Although the team beyond Irving’s trade (“I did not approve of it,” LeBron says to this day) basically had the imprimatur of James (he for instance asked for hefty extensions for both Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith), it’s obvious that the Cavs as constituted can’t win a title again. In fact, they were lucky this year to get past a pesky and young Celtics team that missed the injured Irving and Gordon Hayward in a seven-game barnburner in the East finals to enable James to make an eighth straight finals trip.

With LeBron’s track record of not wanting to be left out of the championship mix – and knowing that the Celtics are ready to unseat the Cavs from their Eastern throne – it’s not a surprise at all that James opted out, again, to seek greener pastures. But where will James eventually opt to go?

First, it has to be to a team that can afford him. The NBA has set a $101.9 million salary cap for the 2018-19 season, and too many clubs (12 of them, in fact) are simply above that threshold to be in the bidding mix, with only Cleveland among them capable of handing the 6-foot-8, 250-pound megaforward the maximum salary because of its Bird rights over him. With James giving up $35.6 million for what’s supposed to be his last year in Cleveland, teams will have to peg his price at about that level when computing for cap space for him and for possibly another max player – as James is not going to settle for playing the role of lone star ranger again like he did in Cleveland this year (though he had a fellow All-Star there, Kevin Love, no matter if Love is not the difference maker like Irving that he would have wanted).

While James is eligible for a maximum pay of $205 million over five years from the Cavaliers (that’s $41.5 million per year) and $152 million over four years from any other team (or $38 million yearly), it’s not totally inconceivable that he would settle for a little less if that means he’s going to a team that can win, as what Durant did when he signed with the Warriors in 2016.

Houston, Golden State, Boston and Miami, four teams that were earlier mentioned as having a shot at James, are likely out of the mix now, especially with Paul having re-upped with the Rockets and KD expected to do the same with the Warriors. The Heat’s $144.2 million payroll, the highest in the league in the coming season, is simply too burdensome to make a pitch on the other hand, while the Celtics were never really interested with the loaded team they have now that Irving and Hayward are coming back to a group of versatile young talent and veterans that came within a victory of playing in the finals.

At this stage of the free-agent season, the best bets to eventually merit James’ favor are the Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers, teams that are both way under the salary cap. The Lakers are approximately $65 million below the cap next season with all the expiring contracts they have while the Sixers are some $54 million under the threshold.

If all one is talking about is talent, then the Sixers would hold the upperhand. They have up-and-coming stars in Joel Embiid and Rookie of the Year Ben Simmons, and the entry of James can possibly put them over the top. But would James be willing to bet on up-and-coming talent alone, even assuming that the Sixers have other good and complementary pieces to surround him with?

The Lakers, on the other hand, may not have any player of Embiid’s or Simmons’ caliber, no matter if Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, Julius Randle and Lonzo Ball are good in themselves, but they have the capacity to make trades for another max-type player to team up with James and their young corps. This is why the Lakers have been trying to get the Spurs to send disgruntled star Kawhi Leonard out to the West Coast for a possible teamup with James. The only question is, at what cost will the Spurs agree to give away Leonard, who still has one year left in his contract?

Despite the obvious difficulty of pulling off that trade, some pundits – Las Vegas bookers, in fact, have pegged the Lakers as the favorite landing spot for James – have tabbed the Lakers as the biggest favorites for eventually signing James as a free agent. Brian Windhorst of ESPN, for instance, said that the Lakers seem to be “pulling away” from the rest of suitors for James.

“This is a good day for the Los Angeles Lakers,” Windhorst said. “It’s a step forward for the Lakers. I believe the Lakers have the inside track for getting LeBron. If the Lakers can close the deal in that meeting, they have a great chance of stealing LeBron James away from the Cavaliers… It will be a long-term decision. The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be the best fit in a free agency where no team seems to be the ‘perfect fit’ for LeBron’s currently or longer term to win championships.”

Alex Kennedy of HoospHype.com added fuel to the fire when he said that he was told by several “notable” NBA veterans that they would be willing to sign with the Lakers for the league minimum if LeBron heads to LA. “All eyes will be on LA and very few teams have cap room this summer, so they'd have no trouble adding complementary pieces to fill out the roster,” Kennedy said.

Regardless of where James ends up, there’s no denying that he represents a different breed of superstars that are far removed from those of yesteryears, and this makes him an icon that’s regarded differently, even contemptuously, in fact, by some sports purists. This also explains why LeBron will never be universally loved. This is because he provides a classic example of a transcendent talent who operates like a mercenary, not showing enough loyalty to any single team, which, if one were to think about it, is really the essence of all sporting competitions as it provides the rooting interest for fans, otherwise, why cheer for a side at all, or why invest yourself in a team in the first place?

When James first left Cleveland, that must be understandable as he was chasing titles. But when he left Miami to come home, the only saving grace for leaving a declining team was the fact that he was indeed coming back to his roots, and it was fitting that he returned like a prodigal son. But now that he is about to leave that home and chase titles again, it’s becoming a tired refrain. What has he got left to prove? He’s acknowledged as the greatest player of his generation, and no title can change that. His continuing attempt nonetheless to look for a team that provides him the best chance of winning is simply reflective of a selfish desire to satisfy his personal goals, never mind the goals and interests of the loyal fans he would leave behind, the fans who sustain his team and, by extension, the entire league and make it possible for superstars like him to earn that much money. As competitive as they were, or perhaps because they were more competitive, in that respect, one would never catch Michael Jordan, Larry Bird or Magic Johnson doing the same just to win more titles. On their own, they would try to make things work. That's what you’d call real titans and legends.

Apparently though, James is wired differently, and he couldn’t care less because of that. (Photo by David Richard of USA TODAY Sports)

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tkmedia · 3 years

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NBA Finals: Chris Paul's playoff legacy takes latest hit, becomes first player to blow four 2-0 series leads

Getty Images Chris Paul is an all-time great. He's a surefire Hall of Famer and the second greatest point guard of the greatest point guard era in history, trailing only Stephen Curry. This has to be said, because the slander is about to get really bad after Paul's Phoenix Suns lost four straight Finals games to the Milwaukee Bucks, who became just the fifth team in history to come back from a 2-0 Finals deficit to win the title. For Paul, it is the fourth time in his career that he's lost a playoff series after going up 2-0, an NBA record. The only other player to have lost three 2-0 leads is Blake Griffin, who, of course, was Paul's teammate with the Los Angeles Clippers -- who, incidentally, became the first team in history to lose a series they led at some point in five consecutive postseasons. You'll notice it's not just the blown 2-0 leads: Paul has now lost a total of seven playoff series in his career that his team led at some point. You see the 2015 meltdown against the Houston Rockets and the 2018 heartbreaker vs. the Golden State Warriors when Paul had to miss Games 6 and 7 with a ripped hamstring, and there was also 2017, when Paul's Clippers were up 2-1 on the Utah Jazz before they lost Griffin for the rest of the series in Game 3 and were eventually eliminated in seven games. Then there was Game 5 in a 2-2 series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2015, when Paul, in a one-possession game, coughed up two turnovers inside the last 20 seconds en route to the Clippers blowing a seven-point lead inside the final minute. OKC won the game and the series. Paul's playoff history has been one of incredibly tough injury luck, almost to the point of cruelty, and it has led to one of the best players of his generation being dubbed some kind of playoff choker. This latest blown 2-0 lead to the Bucks is only going to add fuel to that annoying fire, even though Paul, who finished fifth in MVP voting at 36 years old, and the Suns, who made it to Game 6 of the Finals after not even making the playoffs last season, deserve nothing but respect and admiration for their run that just came up a bit short to a better team with a better player. Read the full article

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your-dietician · 3 years

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NBA conference finals winners and losers: Chris Paul earns his moment; Trae Young arrives; Injuries ruin fun

New Post has been published on https://tattlepress.com/nba/nba-conference-finals-winners-and-losers-chris-paul-earns-his-moment-trae-young-arrives-injuries-ruin-fun/

NBA conference finals winners and losers: Chris Paul earns his moment; Trae Young arrives; Injuries ruin fun

It’s been an arduous journey with plenty of basketball casualties, but we’ve finally reached the 2021 NBA Finals. With Saturday’s 118-107 Game 6 win over the Atlanta Hawks, the Milwaukee Bucks earned the right to play the Phoenix Suns for the NBA championship, starting on Tuesday.

The Bucks will make their first Finals appearance since 1974, with their only title coming in 1971, while the Suns last made the Finals in 1993 and have never won an NBA championship. Needless to say, one of these fan bases is going to be absolutely jubilant in a couple of weeks.

Before we move on to the Finals, however, let’s take a quick look back at an entertaining, intriguing pair of conference finals matchups and designate some winners and losers.

Probably the biggest story of the postseason, Paul will make the first NBA Finals appearance of his 16-year, Hall of Fame career after a masterful clinching game against the Los Angeles Clippers in which he scored 31 of his 41 points in the second half. Paul’s legacy isn’t in doubt given his career numbers and accomplishments, but a championship would at least bump him up a couple of rungs on the all-time hierarchies.

Paul’s journey is all the more remarkable when you remember that the Houston Rockets had to give up multiple first-round picks in the trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder in exchange for Russell Westbrook. Just as his career was supposed to be on the downslide, Paul turned in two All-NBA seasons and now has a chance to be the best player on a championship team at the age of 36.

Loser: Superstar health

The point has been belabored to death, but it bears repeating. Kawhi Leonard missed the entire conference finals. Chris Paul, Trae Young and Giannis Antetokounmpo all missed multiple games. Devin Booker played with a broken nose for the majority of the series. It’s not a good year to be an NBA superstar. Fortunately, we still got a couple of entertaining conference finals series, but let’s hope that Giannis can get healthy and that everyone else stays in top physical form for the Finals.

Given Antetokounmpo’s offensive limitations in the halfcourt, Middleton has been the Bucks’ closer in many high-leverage games over the past few seasons. After a relatively subpar first four games of the series, Middleton put his stamp on Games 5 and 6 as Milwaukee wrapped up a Finals berth. He came up clutch when it mattered the most, scoring 20 points in the fourth quarter of Game 3 and 23 points in the third quarter of Game 6, which created the necessary distance to close out the series.

Games 1-4

21.0

41.8%

22.9%

Games 5 & 6

29.0

47.6%

37.5%

Middleton has been an All-Star for two of the past three seasons, and will join Team USA at the Olympics for the first time this summer. It will be great for casual fans to get to see him playing on the NBA’s biggest stage.

Winner: Monty Williams

After enduring a tumultuous NBA coaching career and suffering unspeakable tragedy with the 2016 death of his wife, Ingrid, Williams let all of his emotions come pouring out after the Suns clinched their Finals berth against the Clippers. Williams and Paul embracing on the sideline in the waning moments of Game 6 will be one of the lasting images of this postseason.

“It’s just authentic. That’s what I felt like doing. I’m not into cool. I just felt like hugging him,” said Williams, who coached Paul in New Orleans during the 2010-11 season. “I think his parents were right behind us and he was emotional. I felt for him.”

Your Paul George playoff slander no longer has a place in the NBA vernacular. George had dazzling, clutch moments even before Kawhi Leonard went down, but he went to another level in closing out the Jazz and into the conference finals against the Suns. Just as it appeared as if he was running out of gas due to being the Clippers’ main playmaker for the entire series, George let loose for a playoff career-high 41 points on 15-for-20 shooting to help his team temporarily avoid elimination on the road.

George has taken a lot of criticism over the past few seasons, both warranted and unwarranted, for his postseason play. Asked whether he feels he faces unfair scrutiny during the playoffs, George didn’t hold back.

“I do. And it’s the honest truth. It’s a fact,” George said after the Game 5 win over Phoenix. “But I can’t worry about that. It comes with the job, I guess. But it is what it is.”

Loser: J.J. Watt

Newest Arizona Cardinal JJ Watt hasn’t been shy about showing his support for the Suns this postseason. He’s also been ardent in his fandom for his hometown Milwaukee Bucks. Now he’s going to have to choose, and while you could look at that situation as him being a winner, either way, we’re not that naive.

We all know whichever side he doesn’t root for is going to label him a bandwagon fan and send hate DMs his way on every social media platform available. Sigh. At least it was fun while it lasted, J.J.

Winner: Mike Budenholzer

It’s not much of a secret: Mike Budenholzer was clinging to his job like a cat on a ledge heading into the postseason. If Kevin Durant’s shoes were about two sizes smaller, Budenholzer might be seeking new employment as we speak. But he made it to the conference finals, where he coached a strong series and presumably earned some security as the Bucks’ head coach. One of his biggest moves — starting Bobby Portis in place of Giannis Antetokounmpo during Games 5 and 6 — paid dividends for the Bucks in terms of energy and rebounding, and putting Brook Lopez closer to the basket in Antetokounmpo’s absence led to a 33-point performance in Game 5. The discussions about his longevity could all be resurrected if the Bucks lose in the Finals but, for now, it appears Budenholzer has re-earned his job with the Bucks.

Loser: Lame NBA arguments

“This doesn’t count, everybody got hurt!” “Who wants to watch these small market teams?” “There’s not enough star power in the Finals!” We are not here for these terrible arguments heading into the NBA Finals. The basketball has been great, the existing stars have been phenomenal and new stars have emerged. The Bucks and Suns have fully earned their spots, so let’s not waste any more breath talking about how they’re not worthy because you think they had it “easier” than your team did. Thanks.

Winner: Trae Young

Young’s unbelievable playoff debut came to an inauspicious end due to a freak injury, but he provided one of the signature performances of this postseason with a 48-point, 11-assist, seven-rebound outburst in a 116-113 Game 1 win over the Bucks to kick off the Eastern Conference finals. He did it with typical Trae Young flair, throwing an off-the-backboard lob to John Collins, then hitting the Bucks with the “shimmy heard round the world” before swishing a wide-open 3-pointer late in the third quarter.

At just 22 years old, this likely won’t be Young’s last big playoff run. That Game 1 spectacle is what fans and analysts will look back on as the moment he arrived on the postseason stage, and it sure was fun to watch it live.

You hate to call Huerter a loser after all he did for this team during the postseason, but he had a rough conference finals. He shot just 34 percent from the field and went 10-for-38 (26 percent) from 3-point range against the Bucks after shooting 48 percent from the field and 40 percent from 3-point range in the playoffs prior to the series. Not only did he struggle offensively, but he also became a frequent target of Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday, who consistently bullied their way to the basket. Huerter was a huge part of the Hawks’ success this postseason, but the conference finals weren’t his brightest moment.

You can’t say much more about Jackson, who re-signed with the Clippers three weeks before the season started after not getting more lucrative offers on the free-agent market. After Leonard’s injury, Jackson was the second-best player on the Clippers during the postseason and performed consistently throughout the conference finals, averaging 20.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists on 46/37/80 shooting splits while playing nearly 38 minutes per game. It’s safe to say the Clippers wouldn’t have made their first-ever conference finals appearance, or won two games once they got there, without Jackson, who expressed his gratitude toward the franchise and his teammates.

“This city makes me feel at home. This organization welcoming me. My quirks, my strengths, my weaknesses. I’m not here today without this team,” Jackson said after the Clippers were eliminated by the Suns. “I’m not still playing without this team. I thank them for everything. In my heart this will forever be a special year.”

Beverley soured a phenomenal conference finals performance on both ends of the court by committing one of the most classless acts you’ll witness on an NBA court in this day and age. For reasons that are still unclear, Beverley violently shoved Chris Paul in the back with two hands late in the fourth quarter of Game 6 as the contest was getting away from the Clippers.

Earlier in the same game, the TV announcers were discussing how Beverley toes the line between aggression and recklessness, and this behavior clearly went too far. To his credit, Beverley took to Twitter to apologize to Paul the next day.

Beverley earned a one-game suspension for his first game of the 2021-22 regular season as a result of his actions.

We don’t know who will win the title, but we do know that Torrey Craig will be eligible for a ring either way. Craig played 18 games with the Bucks this season before being traded to the Suns in exchange for cash considerations. Craig wasn’t particularly productive with Milwaukee, and the acquisition of PJ Tucker was going to push him out of the rotation anyway. It was a win-win, as Craig has thrived in his role in Phoenix and become a valuable part of the team’s postseason run, hitting 44 percent of his 3-pointers in 12.6 minutes per game while playing stout defense.

Craig can refuse the ring if the Suns lose, as center Anderson Varejao did after the 2016 Finals. Varejao played in the Finals as a member of the Golden State Warriors, but had been on the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier that season and was therefore eligible for a championship ring. After famously coming back from a 3-1 deficit to beat the Warriors, the Cavs could have voted to give Varejao a ring, but he preemptively squashed the idea by saying he wouldn’t accept it if offered. Craig is hoping he won’t be forced to make such a decision.

When the Clippers traded Lou Williams for Rajon Rondo before the trade deadline, they were hoping that Playoff Rondo might walk through the door. Well, if he did, it was a revolving door. Rondo played a total of 47 minutes in the conference finals, only seeing the floor in three of the six games. He averaged 5.3 points and 3.7 assists, which aren’t bad numbers given the minutes he played, but he was consistently deficient trying to defend Suns guards Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Cameron Payne, which contributed to keeping Rondo off the court. Last postseason, Rondo was one of the key reasons the Los Angeles Lakers won the championship. This time around, he could help his L.A. team in the same way.

Coming off an Achilles injury, Reddish was thrown right into the fire as he made his playoff debut in Game 2 of the conference finals. Despite being on a “minutes limit,” Reddish clearly established himself as an important rotation piece for the Hawks on both ends of the floor. He scored in double-figures in three of the four games in which he played, including 21 points and a career-high-tying six 3-pointers in Game 6. He also showed his defensive prowess by taking turns on Middleton and Holiday when Atlanta was having trouble slowing them down.

Reddish is just 21 years old and has shown tremendous potential as a two-way wing. He also holds an interesting place in NBA history, as he was the player the Hawks drafted with the pick they received from the Dallas Mavericks in the Luka Doncic-Trae Young swap. Hawks coach Nate McMillan said he “sees a lot of Paul George” in Reddish, and if he gets anywhere close to that in the next few years, given the level that Young has already reached, then Atlanta might be able to say they won that trade — something that seemed inconceivable just a few months ago.

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New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/03/29/heres-how-the-trade-deadline-shook-up-our-nba-power-rankings/

Here's how the trade deadline shook up our NBA Power Rankings

The NBA trade deadline is in the books. How big of an impact did it have on our latest Power Rankings update?

What does it all mean ahead of Week 15? Here’s where our panel sees all 30 teams right now.

Note: Throughout the regular season, our panel (ESPN’s Tim Bontemps, Nick Friedell, Andrew Lopez, Tim MacMahon, Dave McMenamin, Eric Woodyard, Royce Young and Ohm Youngmisuk) is ranking all 30 teams from top to bottom, taking stock of which teams are playing the best basketball now and which teams are looking most like title contenders.

The Jazz have snapped out of their midseason funk. After losing five of eight games, Utah has won five in a row, giving the Jazz the league’s longest active winning streak again. Donovan Mitchell is averaging 31.6 points on .557/.513/.968 shooting splits during the winning streak. Sixth man Jordan Clarkson had been in a slump for most of the streak — he’s shooting 24.6% from the floor in the first four games — but busted out of it with 28 points on 11-of-21 shooting in Saturday’s win over the Grizzlies. — MacMahon

James Harden says he’s the MVP, and of course, he has a case. It requires a bit of amnesia to forget what happened in Houston to begin the season, but in terms of his Nets stint, he’s averaging 26-9-11 in 31 games on high efficiency and a record of 24-7. Many of those games have come without Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving, a key component to Harden’s case, because the rich keep getting richer with the Nets adding LaMarcus Aldridge over the weekend. — Young

Philly finally lost Saturday against the Clippers in Doc Rivers’ first game back in L.A. against his former team. But the important news came before the game, with Joel Embiid and recently acquired guard George Hill both being cleared for on-court activities. If the Sixers had known they’d still be in first in the East when Embiid came back, they’d have been ecstatic; they still lead Brooklyn by a game and have a chance to do just that if he gets back in the lineup again soon. — Bontemps

Key additions: George Hill Key departures: Tony Bradley

This week: @DEN, @CLE, MIN, MEM

4. Phoenix Suns 2020-21 record: 31-14 Previous ranking: 4

It was a quick road trip for the Suns out east with four games in essentially five and a half days. After playing through the Florida portion of the trip on Tuesday (Miami), Wednesday (Orlando) and Friday (in Tampa against Toronto), Phoenix ended the week with a matinee win over Charlotte. The Suns maintained their hold on the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference but didn’t make any moves at the deadline. Instead, they just scooped up Torrey Craig for cash considerations as a part of the P.J. Tucker-to-Milwaukee deal. In four games with Phoenix, Craig averaged 8.3 points and 4.3 rebounds in 18.2 minutes a game while shooting 52.0% from the field and 45.5% from 3. — Lopez

Key additions: Torrey Craig Key departures: None

This week: ATL, CHI, OKC

5. LA Clippers 2020-21 record: 31-16 Previous ranking: 6

The Clippers had their best week of the season — one that could determine how far they go in the playoffs. They halted the surging Hawks, swept two at San Antonio and spoiled Doc Rivers’ return by beating Philadelphia to extend their winning streak to five. But the Clippers made a critical move by trading Lou Williams for Rajon Rondo and cleared two roster spots for possible key buyout additions by trading Mfiondu Kabengele. The Clippers hope Rondo addresses their greatest needs with leadership, basketball IQ and a championship-experienced point guard who can take the playmaking load off Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. Terance Mann also has emerged as a key role player, averaging 15.2 points and 8.0 rebounds this past week. — Youngmisuk

Key additions: Rajon Rondo Key departures: Lou Williams, Mfiondu Kabengele

This week: MIL, ORL, DEN, LAL

6. Milwaukee Bucks 2020-21 record: 29-16 Previous ranking: 5

After eight straight victories, the Bucks dropped two in a row this week to Boston and New York as reigning back-to-back MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo sat with a sprained left knee. His older brother, Thanasis Antetokounmpo, stepped up with 23 points against the Knicks as the Bucks continue to try to work in their new pieces, including former Rocket P.J. Tucker. — Woodyard

Key additions: P.J. Tucker, Rodions Kurucs Key departures: Torrey Craig, D.J. Augustin, D.J. Wilson

This week: @LAC, @LAL, @POR, @SAC

7. Denver Nuggets 2020-21 record: 28-18 Previous ranking: 8

With the Lakers limping toward the postseason, the Nuggets saw their opening and made arguably the league’s biggest trade deadline move by adding Aaron Gordon. Gordon gives Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray another versatile and athletic above-the-rim scoring option. He also provides the Nuggets with more muscle to throw at LeBron James or Kawhi Leonard in the playoffs. JaVale McGee returns to Denver to provide rim protection, championship experience and another big body to throw at Davis. The moves also take pressure off Michael Porter Jr., who has been shooting lights out for over a month. — Youngmisuk

Key additions: Aaron Gordon, JaVale McGee, Gary Clark Key departures: Gary Harris, RJ Hampton, Isaiah Hartenstein

This week: PHI, @LAC, ORL

8. Los Angeles Lakers 2020-21 record: 30-17 Previous ranking: 7

It was a terrible week for L.A. — LeBron James suffered a high ankle sprain; the team went on a four-game skid; the front office struck out on a trade for Kyle Lowry which revealed that things aren’t going so smoothly with Dennis Schroder, the Lakers’ supposed point guard of the future — but it ended with some great news for the franchise. Andre Drummond, perhaps the best player to hit the buyout market this March, picked the Lakers. When James and Anthony Davis return from their injuries, Drummond could be the difference in getting L.A. back up the mountain this postseason. — McMenamin

Key additions: Andre Drummond Key departures: Damian Jones

This week: MIL, @SAC, @LAC

9. Portland Trail Blazers 2020-21 record: 28-18 Previous ranking: 9

The addition of Norman Powell is an interesting one for the Blazers. They are clearly in search of a two-way upgrade and defensive versatility to complement Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, but it also opens the door for small-ball lineups with Robert Covington playing the 4. As Portland gets healthy and its depth has been reinforced, it has the look of a dangerous group that might be a bigger playoff threat than some are giving the Blazers credit for. — Young

Key additions: Norman Powell Key departures: Rodney Hood, Gary Trent Jr.

This week: @DET, MIL, OKC

10. Dallas Mavericks 2020-21 record: 23-21 Previous ranking: 10

The Mavs are prioritizing protecting the health of their young franchise cornerstones over avoiding the play-in scenario, opting to rest Luka Doncic and Kristaps Porzingis for part of back-to-backs since the All-Star break. Dallas is 5-5 since the break, with Doncic and/or Porzingis sitting out three of the losses, and the Mavs have slipped to 3.5 games behind the sixth seed. The Mavs are 1-4 this season in games missed by Doncic, who sat out Friday due to lower back tightness and was supposed to play Saturday before being sidelined by a non-COVID illness. — MacMahon

Key additions: JJ Redick Key departures: James Johnson, Wes Iwundu

This week: @OKC, @BOS, @NYK, @WAS

11. San Antonio Spurs 2020-21 record: 23-20 Previous ranking: 12

San Antonio’s new starting lineup of Derrick White, Dejounte Murray, Keldon Johnson, DeMar DeRozan and Jakob Poeltl has been a net positive so far this season in 10 games over 129 minutes. While the team is 6-4 in those starts, San Antonio has a plus-1.4 net rating with that group. In 16 games this season, the Spurs’ most-started lineup of DeRozan, Murray, Johnson, Lonnie Walker IV and the recently departed LaMarcus Aldridge was a minus-12.5 in 219 minutes. — Lopez

Key additions: Gorgui Dieng Key departures: LaMarcus Aldridge, Marquese Chriss (traded for, waived)

This week: SAC, SAC, ATL, IND

12. New York Knicks 2020-21 record: 24-22 Previous ranking: 16

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New York keeps on winning, though it suffered a real loss when Mitchell Robinson broke his foot over the weekend. But the Knicks remain in fourth place in the East and are grinding out victories under coach Tom Thibodeau. A pair of big home games loom this week against the reeling Heat and Luka Doncic and the Mavericks. — Bontemps

Key additions: None Key departures: Austin Rivers, Terrance Ferguson (traded for, waived)

This week: MIA, @MIN, DAL, @DET

13. Boston Celtics 2020-21 record: 23-23 Previous ranking: 14

Boston cashed in on most of the Gordon Hayward trade exception at Thursday’s deadline by landing Evan Fournier from the Magic and then promptly won two games without him over the weekend. The question now is whether Fournier, who missed Saturday’s win over Oklahoma City due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols, will make his debut on Monday against New Orleans. The other storyline to watch: Can Robert Williams III cement himself as Boston’s long-term starter at center in the wake of Daniel Theis‘ departure? — Bontemps

Key additions: Evan Fournier, Moritz Wagner Key departures: Daniel Theis, Jeff Teague

This week: NOP, DAL, HOU, CHA

14. Atlanta Hawks 2020-21 record: 23-23 Previous ranking: 13

Nate McMillan’s eight-game win streak as the Hawks’ interim coach came to an end at the start of the week when Atlanta dropped a game to the Clippers. It will also be another long week on the road for the Hawks, who are currently on the league’s longest road trip of the season: eight games. They’ll travel to Phoenix, San Antonio and New Orleans this week before finally having a home game again on April 4 against the Warriors. — Lopez

Key additions: Lou Williams Key departures: Rajon Rondo

This week: @PHO, @SAS, @NOP, GSW

15. Charlotte Hornets 2020-21 record: 23-22 Previous ranking: 17

Charlotte responded nicely after last week’s news of LaMelo Ball‘s likely season-ending wrist injury, winning three of its past four games. The big highlight came during Friday’s win over the Heat, where Malik Monk poured in 32 points in 26 minutes off the bench. Terry Rozier has scored at least 22 points in the four games since Ball’s injury was announced. — Friedell

Key additions: Brad Wanamaker Key departures: None

This week: @WAS, @BRK, @IND, @BOS

16. Miami Heat 2020-21 record: 22-24 Previous ranking: 11

After rattling off 11 wins in 12 games, the Heat have fallen back to earth and enter the week in the midst of a six-game losing streak. The defense that helped get them back on track has gone missing. During the skid, the Heat are giving up an average of 113 points per game and haven’t been able to finish games late in several close contests. Victor Oladipo‘s addition should give the veteran group a needed jolt in the next week. — Friedell

Key additions: Victor Oladipo Key departures: Avery Bradley, Kelly Olynyk

This week: @NYK, @IND, GSW, CLE

17. Indiana Pacers 2020-21 record: 21-23 Previous ranking: 18

The Pacers have won four of their past five. During Indiana’s 109-94 win over Dallas on Friday, Texas native Myles Turner posted 9 points with 7 rebounds in addition to 7 blocks. Turner has 12 games with five or more blocks this season, tied for the third-most such games in a season in Pacers NBA history, per ESPN Stats & Information research. — Woodyard

Key additions: None Key departures: None

This week: @WAS, MIA, CHA, @SAS

18. Memphis Grizzlies 2020-21 record: 21-22 Previous ranking: 19

The Grizzlies have finally revealed a timetable for power forward Jaren Jackson Jr.’s return from surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee. Executive vice president Zach Kleiman announced that Jackson will make his season debut by the end of April. Forward Justise Winslow, one of the other young players the Grizzlies hope will be a long-term core piece, has struggled as he chips off the rust from a long injury recovery process. Winslow has shot 34.2% from the floor in his first 16 games for the Grizzlies. — MacMahon

Key additions: None Key departures: Gorgui Dieng

This week: @HOU, UTA, MIN, @PHI

19. Golden State Warriors 2020-21 record: 22-24 Previous ranking: 15

The Warriors have lost four in a row and are playing some of their worst basketball of the season. Stephen Curry has been out since suffering a tailbone bruise on March 17 — and the good news is there is a chance that Curry plays Monday against the Bulls after going through all of Sunday’s practice. But Curry’s return isn’t going to be a cure-all for the Warriors’ defensive issues. They’ve given up an average of 121 points during the losing streak. — Friedell

Key additions: None Key departures: Brad Wanamaker, Marquese Chriss

This week: CHI, @MIA, @TOR, @ATL

20. New Orleans Pelicans 2020-21 record: 20-25 Previous ranking: 21

Zion Williamson finished the week with a fury. He bested his previous career high of 36 points in back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday night. He finished with 39 points in a loss to the Nuggets on Friday before going off for 38 points against the Mavericks in a victory the following night. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Williamson joined Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adrian Dantley, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal, Scottie Pippen and Giannis Antetokounmpo as the only players to have at least 75 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists while shooting at least 70% from the field in a two-game span. — Lopez

Key additions: James Johnson, Wes Iwundu Key departures: JJ Redick, Nicolo Melli

This week: @BOS, ORL, ATL, @HOU

21. Sacramento Kings 2020-21 record: 21-25 Previous ranking: 24

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It was fitting the NCAA tournament was going on this weekend, because Harrison Barnes‘ game winner over the Cavs on Saturday — created by a full-court inbounds pass from De’Aaron Fox with 1.6 seconds remaining — was reminiscent of Duke’s Grant Hill hooking up with Christian Laettner to beat Kentucky in 1992. Don’t look now, but the Kings have won four in a row, putting them only a game back of the final play-in spot in the West. — McMenamin

Key additions: Terence Davis, Maurice Harkless, Chris Silva, Delon Wright Key departures: Nemanja Bjelica, Cory Joseph, Mfiondu Kabengele, Jabari Parker

This week: @SAS, @SAS, LAL, MIL

22. Chicago Bulls 2020-21 record: 19-25 Previous ranking: 20

Even with changes to the starting lineup and rotation, the Bulls struggled to get in sync with three losses to Utah, Cleveland and San Antonio this week. In Nikola Vucevic‘s Bulls debut, the two-time All-Star put up a team-high 21 points, 9 rebounds and 3 assists in 32 minutes despite a loss in San Antonio. Look for Vucevic and Zach LaVine to get it together for a playoff push. — Woodyard

Key additions: Nikola Vucevic, Al-Farouq Aminu, Daniel Theis, Javonte Green, Troy Brown Jr. Key departures: Wendell Carter Jr., Otto Porter Jr., Daniel Gafford, Chandler Hutchison, Luke Kornet

This week: @GSW, @PHO, @UTA, BRK

23. Oklahoma City Thunder 2020-21 record: 19-26 Previous ranking: 23

With Al Horford shelved for the rest of the season, the Thunder aren’t being shy about their intentions the rest of the way. But also, consider a few things: They were only 8-8 with Horford this season, and with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander out for a month or so because of a foot injury, they weren’t doing much anyway. The Thunder also want to play their young players. One of whom is Horford protégé Moses Brown, who put up 21 points and 23 rebounds on Saturday. — Young

Key additions: None Key departures: George Hill, Al Horford (sitting out)

This week: DAL, TOR, @PHO, @POR

24. Toronto Raptors 2020-21 record: 18-28 Previous ranking: 22

Toronto promptly dropped two games in a row after breaking a nine-game losing streak, leaving the Raptors closer to 13th than 10th in the standings at a rather late stage of the season. There’s still time for Toronto to right itself, and keeping Kyle Lowry will help — assuming the right foot soreness that held him out of Sunday’s loss to Portland doesn’t linger. But the idea this team can be a problem for an opponent in the first round is looking more and more remote by the day. As a result, whether it can leap up in a loaded lottery is looking like the much more relevant question. — Bontemps

Key additions: Rodney Hood, Gary Trent Jr. Key departures: Norman Powell

This week: @DET, @OKC, GSW

25. Washington Wizards 2020-21 record: 16-28 Previous ranking: 25

Russell Westbrook practically willed the Wizards to a win against Detroit with his 15th triple-double (19 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists) to stop a three-game losing streak. While the Wizards have still dropped eight of their past 10 and Bradley Beal is hampered by a hip bruise, they made a move that they hope will keep their dwindling playoff hopes alive. Washington traded Moritz Wagner and Troy Brown Jr. for Daniel Gafford and Chandler Hutchinson. The 6-foot-10 Gafford gives Washington a rim protector and hopefully helps fill the big-man void left by Thomas Bryant‘s season-ending injury. — Youngmisuk

Key additions: Daniel Gafford, Chandler Hutchison Key departures: Moritz Wagner, Troy Brown Jr.

This week: IND, CHA, @DET, DAL

26. Cleveland Cavaliers 2020-21 record: 17-29 Previous ranking: 26

The losses are piling up for the Cavs — eight in their past 11 games — including a couple of clunkers over the weekend. Cleveland mustered just 86 points in a loss to the LeBron-less Lakers on Friday, scoring a measly 10 points in the third quarter. It followed that up with just 98 points in a loss to Sacramento, despite winning the turnover battle with seven miscues compared to 18 for the Kings. — McMenamin

Key additions: Isaiah Hartenstein Key departures: JaVale McGee

This week: @UTA, PHI, @MIA

27. Orlando Magic 2020-21 record: 15-31 Previous ranking: 27

Yet another rebuild is underway in Orlando after the Magic traded away their veteran core of Nikola Vucevic, Evan Fournier and Aaron Gordon prior to the deadline. Now they must hope that some of their new first-round picks turn into solid pieces in the future — while also hoping that Jonathan Isaac and Markelle Fultz come back to being solid players after dealing with serious knee injuries over the past year. — Friedell

Key additions: Wendell Carter Jr., Gary Clark Key departures: Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon, Evan Fournier

This week: @LAC, @NOP, @UTA, @DEN

28. Detroit Pistons 2020-21 record: 12-33 Previous ranking: 28

The Pistons have dropped four straight, including a 106-92 loss in Washington on Saturday during which they trailed by as many as 30 points but cut the deficit to three points in the fourth quarter. At the deadline, the Pistons traded Delon Wright to the Kings for Cory Joseph, and second-round picks in 2021 and 2024. — Woodyard

Key additions: Cory Joseph Key departures: Delon Wright, Blake Griffin

This week: TOR, POR, WAS, NYK

29. Houston Rockets 2020-21 record: 13-32 Previous ranking: 30

Guard Kevin Porter Jr.’s development is one of the Rockets’ top priorities the rest of the season and one reason trading Victor Oladipo made sense despite not getting much value in return from Miami. Porter had 25 points in Saturday’s win over the Timberwolves, his third time scoring that many points in eight games in a Rockets uniform. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, the Rockets had previously had only two such performances by players 20 or younger in franchise history. — MacMahon

Key additions: Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley, D.J. Augustin, D.J. Wilson Key departures: Victor Oladipo, P.J. Tucker

This week: MEM, @BRK, @BOS, NOP

30. Minnesota Timberwolves 2020-21 record: 11-35 Previous ranking: 29

One of the (many) issues with the Wolves is that they just aren’t playing competitive games. With a young team, the experience of being in close games and making key plays late is crucial. But of the Wolves’ past nine losses, only one was decided by two possessions. They are routinely getting blown out by 15 or 20, which makes it hard to develop a young roster. — Young

Key additions: None Key departures: None

This week: @BRK, NYK, @MEM, @PHI

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