Author: Arjo

6/29/17

Phil Jackson has finally been fired from the New York Knicks front office. Jackson’s gross incompetence as a GM has frustrated all NBA fans, especially Knicks fans. This year, the ‘genius’ inside Jackson told him to lower Carmelo Anthony’s trade value by pinpointing his flaws to the media. When any headline that revolved around the Knicks were released, Phil hid in the shadows and made Carmelo answer all the questions. But wait, there’s more! In the offseason, Phil began to listen to trade offers for their only young star, Kristaps Porzingis. Then, in a week, Jackson chose Frank Ntilikina with the 8th pick, passing up on a player with a much higher ceiling in Dennis Smith Jr. This was the last straw for the Knicks ownership who fired him a few days after the draft.

6/28/17

For every fan, the NBA Finals are the most exciting time of the year. This year though, because of the Warriors superteam, the Finals were over in only five games. Now the craziest NBA offseason since 2010 is here! Actually, this 2017 offseason can be the most insane offseason in this century with so many All-Star caliber players becoming free agents or being traded.

We are now only a week removed from the 2017 NBA Draft which has been hyped up as the best draft class since 2003. I am not sure I agree with that, but this draft class has some serious talent. This 76ers team is sure to be scary for the next 5-10 years if only they can stay healthy. If the Lakers get a superstar free agent this offseason or the next, their future will be extremely bright and don’t even get me started on the second coming of the Golden State Warriors in Minnesota.

Now I will start picking apart the Jimmy Butler to Minnesota and Chris Paul to Houston trades.

When I first saw the words ‘Butler to Minnesota’ everywhere on social media, I thought for sure that the Bulls had lost this deal by a mile, which actually wasn’t the case. First of all, when a superstar player like Butler gets traded, his team will definitely not get the same amount of talent as they give away. For example, when prime Shaq got traded to Miami in 2004, the Lakers got two starters, a bench player, and a draft pick; barely half of what Shaq was actually worth.

What the Bulls did in this deal was great as they finally have a direction to go which is rebuilding. In the past two seasons, the Bulls have consistently been stuck in the middle of the pack, not getting high draft picks or making a deep playoff run. Now that they have gotten rid of their star player for Zach LaVine, Kris Dunn, and Lauri Markkanen, three young players all with All-Star potential, they will finally tank, get a draft pick in the top 8 next season, and draft a talented young prospect. With young players, all they will have to do is wait for them to develop, and then make a deep playoff run in the future. For Minnesota, they get a superstar in Butler who is a great role model to the young players because of his unreal work ethic. Butler will also for sure lead the Timberwolves to a playoff berth for the first time in 13 seasons.

All I can say now is R.I.P Lob City. Chris Paul has been traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Houston Rockets for Darrun Hilliard, Kyle Wiltjer, Montrezl Harrell, Patrick Beverley, Lou Williams, Sam Dekker, and 2018 HOU first round pick. This trade gives the Clippers tons of young assets. With this CP3 deal, the Clippers are in a similar situation as the Celtics, excluding the draft picks. Both teams have many young assets and one star (Ex: Blake Griffin and Isaiah Thomas). Now for the Clippers, the wildcard is DeAndre Jordan. If the Clippers want to go into full rebuild mode, they have to trade DJ and receive young assets as well as letting Blake Griffin become a free agent and opt-out of his contract. If the Clippers keep both stars, they will consistently be in the playoffs as a low seed and get ousted by the Spurs, Rockets, or Warriors. This will keep them in a similar situation as the Bulls in the past few seasons. What I am trying to get at is either Blake has to go, or DeAndre and Blake have to go for the Clippers to be successful in the near future.

For Houston, having two ball-dominant guards is not the worst thing as it can work out like it does for CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard in Portland. Mike D’Antoni’s system in Houston with Harden and Paul will make the Rockets a legitimate title contender and they might even grab the second seed from San Antonio. D’Antoni’s system works best when there is one primary ball handler with many shooters on the perimeter like it was in Phoenix during the mid-2000s. I believe what Houston will do now is make Chris Paul the primary ball handler and make James Harden play shooting guard as a spot up shooter. Of course, when Harden gets the ball in an isolation situation, he can completely embarrass his defender and show that he still has an MVP in him. With all that said, it will still be hard for Houston to put two ball-dominant guards on the court at once.

Daryl Morey, the General Manager of the Houston Rockets, said that his team “has something up our sleeve.” Though the Chris Paul trade was probably what he was talking about, there is no doubt in my mind that there will be more moves for the Rockets this offseason. Paul George or Carmelo Anthony to Houston?

6/26/17

Today was the first NBA Awards Show. There were only some surprises in the selections, as most of the picks were predicted by many fans.

MVP: Russell Westbrook

DPOY: Draymond Green

ROY: Malcolm Brogdon

MIP: Giannis Antetokounmpo

6MOY: Eric Gordon

Russell Westbrook was the favorite to win MVP throughout the NBA season, so it was no surprise when he received it over James Harden.

Draymond Green just had the better defensive year. Kawhi had won the award in each of the past two seasons. I believe because of voter fatigue, when voters become tired of voting for the same players, Kawhi did not receive the DPOY and Draymond was next in line. This is no shot at Draymond because he is a nightmare on the defensive end with the intensity of a tiger and the ability to guard all five positions.

Malcolm Brogdon won the Rookie of the Year over Joel Embiid and Dario Saric. Embiid was ruled out by many fans because he only played 31 of the possible 82 games in the season. Because Saric and Brogdon played 81 and 75 games respectively they were the clear favorites. Saric looked like he had a slight edge because of his stats. I believe the reason that Brogdon received the award because he was the 36th pick whereas Saric was the 12th pick.

Giannis won the Most Improved Player. No surprise there.

In the 2016-17 season the 6th man of the year race was between Eric Gordon and Lou Williams. During the trade deadline, when Lou Williams was traded to the Rockets where Eric Gordon played, the competition for the award became just that much more interesting. Their stats were pretty much exactly the same. The edge that Gordon got was because he was returning from devastating injuries in the past years.

 6/22/17

Today was the much anticipated 2017 NBA Draft. This point guard heavy draft has the potential to be as good as the 2003, 1996, and 1984 draft classes. (Keyword: potential)

1. (A+) 76ers select: Markelle Fultz: To nobody’s surprise Markelle Fultz was taken by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 1st overall pick. The 76ers needed to pick a relevant guard so that they didn’t have to start TJ McConnell or Nik Stauskas anymore. Markelle Fultz will be a great fit for the Sixers as they need a two-way guard who can shoot the ball at a high percentage and be a reliable playmaker. This young Sixers team reminds me of the young Oklahoma City Thunder trio.
2. (A) Lakers select: Lonzo Ball: The Lakers surprised many people a few weeks before the NBA Draft when they said that Lonzo Ball ‘looked out of shape’ during his first workout with the team. For a few days, many people thought that the Lakers would either select De’Aaron Fox or Josh Jackson instead of Ball. During this time, the little population who thought that the Lakers wanted to put smoke screens so that no one ahead of them picked Ball, were correct. Lonzo’s playmaking skills will make him a key player for the Lakers if they acquire a superstar in the near future.
3. (A-) Celtics select: Jayson Tatum: After Boston traded down in the draft by taking the third pick from Philadelphia instead of the first pick, many people were surprised as they thought that Markelle Fultz would be a great fit with the Celtics. Anyway, Duke’s Jayson Tatum was a great pick for the Celtics because they needed a reliable scorer next to Isaiah Thomas. If they had selected Josh Jackson, the fit would be horrible because they already have two small-forward, 3 and D players in Jaylen Brown and Jae Crowder.
4. (A+) Suns select: Josh Jackson: Josh Jackson might just help the Suns reach the playoffs this upcoming season. Jackson fits perfectly with Devin Booker on the Suns. Booker does everything that Jackson cannot do and Jackson does everything that Booker cannot do. This combo can be scary in the future.
5. (A+) Kings select: De’Aaron Fox: Everybody celebrate, the Kings did not select a center with their lottery pick! De’Aaron Fox is a hyper-athletic guard who can break down defenders and pass the ball to an open shooter or big man. Fox will fill in as a much needed point guard with this young Kings team.
6. (D) Magic select: Jonathan Isaac: Absolutely none of the mock drafts I read had Isaac going to the Magic. None. In my opinion, this pick by the Magic was terrible. They simply do not need a big man. They had the option of choosing Malik Monk, Dennis Smith Jr, and Frank Ntilikina. All these players are guards who are much needed in Orlando.
7. (A+) Bulls select: Lauri Markkanen: I love this pick by the Bulls. They needed a big man and someone who can stretch the floor by having a solid shooting touch. They filled in both these roles by selecting Lauri Markkanen who had a solid year at Arizona last season.
8. (B) Knicks select: Frank Ntilikina: I still think that the Knicks should have taken Dennis Smith Jr. Ntilikina is a very raw prospect who has a nice upside, but this is not comparable to Smith Jr’s upside, which levels out to near Russell Westbrook
9. (A) Mavericks select: Dennis Smith Jr: The Mavericks needed to pick an athletic guard because Yogi Ferrell and Seth Curry aren’t the most athletic. Smith will give the Mavs a boost of scoring as they were in the bottom 10 in scoring in the NBA last season.
10. (A) Trailblazers select: Zach Collins: Entering the draft the Blazers needed a defense oriented big man. They got exactly that when they selected Zach Collins from Gonzaga. Collins will complement Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum’s game very well.
11. (A+) Hornets select: Malik Monk: The Hornets lucked out this year by getting Monk at 11 when many people including me thought he would get drafted in the top 8 for sure. Monk and Kemba Walker will be as potent a backcourt as any other in the league.
12. (A) Pistons select: Luke Kennard: Kennard will be a great fit with the Pistons as they needed a shooter on the wing. Kennard will be useful because Reggie Jackson is not the best three point shooter.
13. (A+) Jazz select: Donovan Mitchell: This pick was absolutely amazing for the Jazz. Their guard play needs a scoring boost which Mitchell can easily provide. This can also give Gordon Hayward an incentive to stay in Utah.
14.   (A-) Heat select: Bam Adebayo: Adebayo is a nice addition next to Hassan Whiteside. Bam can provide some offense and rebounding for this young Heat team.