No Game Sevens - Brisket N' Roll: Weekly NBA Report
No Game Sevens...
Brooklyn Nets: The Last Super Team
The era of All-Stars chatting with jerseys over their mouth and secretly messaging each other on Twitter could be over soon. If we take a look at the best teams in the NBA regular season, let’s look how many of them consisted of superstar free agency pairings.
- Phoenix, 64-18; Booker, Paul, Ayton (draft + free agency)
- Memphis, 56-26; Morant, Jackson Jr., Bane (nearly all through draft)
- Golden State, 53-29; Curry, Klay, Poole, Wiggins (draft + player development)
- Miami, 53-29; Butler, Adebayo, Herro (definitely player development + draft)
- Boston, 51-31; Tatum, Brown, Smart (draft)
- Milwaukee, 51-31; Antetokounmpo, Middleton, Holiday (draft + free agency)
- Philadelphia, 51-31; Embiid, Harden, Maxey (free agency + draft)
Nearly every team listed here built their success in the time-honored tradition of rebuilding and drafting the right guys in the right system with the right coach. As more and more superstar duos form, we see them develop the same issues again and again. It goes something like this: Superstar X mentions Superstar Y in an offseason tweet with the eyes emoji. Superstar Y develops a mysterious 12-game ankle sprain that he sits out 19 games for, while donning an Anti-Social Social Club hoodie and ripped Amiri jeans. Then, he leaves in the offseason for less money than what his original team offered him, stating “I always wanted to play for them since I was a kid.” Once the social media team captures them giggling at a practice session, the downfall begins to be noticeable. The team trades a fringe All-Star for thirty cents on the dollar, then fires the longtime coach for a more “suitable” one and blah blah. By the time the trade deadline rolls around, the two hold more resentment towards each other than the Genovese and Gambino’s. That team is the Brooklyn Nets.
More people are beginning to realize that you can’t stick two otherworldly talents on a team without cohesion and trust with other members of the roster. Kyrie and Durant’s play styles suit each other, but many questions still exist. Will Nash be able to properly run his rotations and keep the roster in check? Can the front office build a complementary unit to where Bruce Brown isn’t your third best player? Will Ben Simmons stop wearing this and play? Time only knows. If Brooklyn can’t capitalize off the chance Father Time has given them, they will be in a rough patch going forwards.
It’s time to blow it up in Utah.
As Utah flies back home to Salt Lake City, a certain scenario will reach the minds’ of the Jazz executives and GM Justin Zanik. As they recline in their Saddlebrook suits and sip on Grenache Blanc, they will turn on the film of this series. After five or so minutes of this, the cold, harsh reality of the situation will hit them:
They need to rebuild this team.
I think we all saw this coming. We saw signs of it last year when Utah lost 4-3 against Denver; now it’s unavoidable, to say the least. The most obvious and important issue to solve is the pairing of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. The chemistry between the two is awkward at times. Mitchell commands most of the attention on offense, while Gobert is given as much attention as a Dalit in ancient India. Even more-so, leaked Utah jersey designs could be foreshadowing that the Jazz want to move from one of the two.
So where does Utah go from here? Obviously, they aren’t contenders like they’ve viewed themselves as. The regular season hype the Jazz have generated has yet to lead to a lengthy playoff run. If they don’t want to fully commit to rebuilding, Gobert will likely be the one to be shown the door. His play style doesn’t mesh well with Mitchell and the rest of the Jazz roster. I could see a team like New York being willing to trade for Gobert, even if he fetches a heavy contract match. If they want to fully rebuild (which would be pretty surprising), I don’t know where they would start. Maybe hoarding young assets and picks from selling teams in a Presti-like manner would be their order of operations, but it would be strange to navigate through that scenario.
Philadelphia holds off Toronto’s comeback
The biggest news to come out of this series is that Joel Embiid is out indefinitely with a right orbital fracture suffered in Game 6. This news is going to impact heavily how Philadelphia can perform against a blazing hot Celtics team. The lack of depth at the center spot is going to hurt them quite some. If Embiid comes back around Game 2 or 3, then they should have a sizable chance to be able to take the series. If he is out for longer than that, then Boston could have the upper hand. One of the positives is that the 76ers get Matisse Thybulle back full time now, which will help on the defensive side of the ball. Hopefully, Embiid can make a quick return to this series and play at the level he’s been playing at.
(Also, p.s., stop trying to spread negativity around an injury like this announcer did)
Suns avoid upset against NOLA
Despite New Orleans’ best efforts, Phoenix will be moving on to the second round. For a team that finished below .500, to make this series that competitive, is a feat in and of itself. Even with Zion missing all of this season, Ingram’s play and the acquisition of C.J. McCollum provided dividends for this young Pelicans team. Hidden gems in Herbert Jones and Jose Alvarado also make New Orleans a potential threat in the Western Conference. As for Phoenix, even though this series went longer than it should have, they are still of course the dominant team they are. With Booker back, Phoenix will be a terrifying team to go up against.
Minnesota is sobbing and wheezing
With (thankfully) no more PETA protestors at games, Minnesota has to continue the success they’ve built, with some minor changes. Trading D’Angelo Russell could be a legitimate option this offseason, mainly to help improve on their defense and give more touches to Edwards and Towns. The culture they have in Minnesota, love it or not, has proved to have worked this year. If they can come back with a more focused roster, less offensive lapses, and tightened arena security, then Minnesota could make noise next season.
Nikola Söze has arrived
With Denver providing their star center with as much help as Ymir did in Attack on Titan, I think this is where we begin to see the true Nikola Jokic come into fruition. As next season rolls around, a more aggressive and athletic version of the Joker is going to appear before us. He’ll start shoving more people and tripping guards on screens. The fuel that he has could propel him to a title run with Denver, and with Murray and Porter Jr. coming back next year, the squad in Mile High City will be looking a lot more dangerous. A disappointing end to the season for Denver, but they will get their chance next year.
Miami smoked Atlanta
Not much to say here, really. Miami played terrific defense and converted shots at a high rate. Kyle Lowry and Butler did miss some time, but they’ll be back to face Milwaukee. Herro and Adebayo provided their usual impact on the floor, and the return of Victor Oladipo could help them take some games away from the Bucks, especially with Middleton likely out for this series. As for Atlanta, Trae Young struggled to lead this team to any real sort of convincing win. The finagling contract situation of John Collins this offseason could have ramifications also on this Atlanta Hawks squad.
