All-NBA Team of the Week - Eastern Conference All-Stars

Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. It’s been a weird week in the NBA. Giannis and Embiid have both taken over as frontrunners in the MVP race from Nikola Jokic after some amazing performances. Embiid dropped 47 points on Denver in a statement game, and followed it up by averaging 30 points and 10 rebounds per game over the next 3 games. Giannis, on the other hand, had two 50+ games this week. He dropped 50 against the Pelicans and 54 against the Clippers. In between, he ONLY made 34 points against the Bulls. To top things off, he averaged 16 rebounds per game in those 3 games. Those are some ridiculous stats! The Bucks have climbed to second spot in the East after winning 6 games in a row and are finally looking like the contenders they should be. And yet, after all that, the biggest news story of the week comes out of Brooklyn, where Kyrie has dropped another bomb on the franchise. More on that later in the show. This week we take a look at the Eastern All-Star starters that have been selected by all of us, aka the fans, by the media and the players themselves. I’m Peter Peake and this is your All-NBA Team of the Week!

PICK #1

Your first pick is Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets. Oh Kyrie, this was supposed to be a piece on how you really turned a page this season. After the anti-Semetic remarks earlier in the season, he had put his head down and let his basketball do the talking. Finally, no drama in sight, and by averaging 27, 5 and 5, he absolutely deserved his selection for this All-Star game. Contract extension talks were underway and it looked like the clouds had moved from Brooklyn and they looked like they could start preparing for a decent Playoff run. But the drama keeps following him around, like flies on shit. He is unhappy with all the restrictions the Nets are putting on a potential extension, forcing him to perform on the court to get his money. And let me be very clear, those restrictions are absolutely valid, after 3 and a half years of non-stop issues. But Kyrie clearly disagrees and has demanded a trade out of Brooklyn now, or he walks at the end of the season. And you can almost guarantee that if he is forced to stay, that we won’t play again.

I’m sure Sean Marks and his team have torn down their office after the demand, but when they calm down, I’m sure they’ll realise that this is probably for the best AND they are in total control of this situation. If I was in their shoes, I would make contact with KD first and see how he feels about Kyrie’s demand and how that will affect KD and his future at the Nets. Remember, KD asked out during the offseason, also after Kyrie took his time before opting into his final contract year. Having that conversation with KD should make it clear whether you’re trying to trade him too or if he’s happy for you to do what’s best for the franchise and see where things are at the end of the season. If KD wants to be traded too, I would call Golden State and try to sell them the Last Dance scenario. See if you can get some of their younger pieces, a couple of picks and maybe Wiggins to make up the salary.

But we’re not there yet. Back to Kyrie. He might believe he is in control of this situation but in my opinion, he has put himself in an untenable situation now. The Nets’ season is over regardless if they trade him or not. They don’t have to trade him, and chances are they wont get any decent offers anyway. That means that Kyrie will sit out part of the season again. It’s been since his Cleveland days that Kyrie played more than 70 games in a single season. Of course, somebody will want him but it might not be a franchise he wants to play for. Whatever offer comes in for the Nets, I’d force them to take on Ben Simmons too, fix all my problems in one hit and start fresh in the summer. With or without KD. This was supposed to be a piece raving about Kyrie and his incredible qualities as a basketball player. Instead, it was another rant about his antics off the court. I feel sick.

PICK #2

Your second pick is Donovan Mitchell of the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavaliers are better than last season, that’s not something most people had expected. I picked them as a middle of the Eastern Conference team, about 3 or 4 places lower than they currently are in 5th, and they have a five game lead on those teams at the moment. That’s not to say they can drop later on, that’s what they did last season, but at this point in time, we need to celebrate their achievement so far. I thought they would struggle to fit Mitchell into the starting five. Not because he doesn’t fit, but because they would have had to change their playing style a little. Mitchell needs the ball in his hands, a lot. But they made it work.

Mitchell is averaging 27 points per game and nearly 4 rebounds and 5 assists per game. He is also the only player in the last 5 years that managed to make 70+ points in a game. The Cavs have a losing record without Mitchell on the court and only Jarrett Allen is the only one with a bigger direct influence on Cleveland wins. Mitchell is probably playing one of the best seasons of his career, he plays like he is liberated and has no issues playing with the twin towers down low. Considering his past with Rudy Gobert, that was one of my concerns of him moving to Cleveland. But then again, I never believed that Donovan was the problem in Utah.

Mitchell is the only All-Star coming out of Cleveland this year, and he was the obvious pick. He was an established All-Star in the guard-heavy Western Conference, so it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that he is going back to Utah for the All-Star game. What is surprising to me, is that no one else made the cut. Yes, there are an unusually high number of players performing on an All-Star level, but Darius Garland, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are all performing at high levels too. Especially one of those two bigs deserved a spot on the roster, they haven’t been any worse than Bam or Randle this season. But the votes are cast and Cleveland has to be happy with only one All-Star this season. All will be forgotten if this team can start their Playoff journey with home court advantage.

PICK #3

Your third pick is Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks are slowly getting back to full strength. Giannis is day-to-day with his knee, and Bobby Portis will be out for another while, but having Khris Middleton back available is huge news for Milwaukee. They tried to bring him back early December but it was too much too soon, he re-injured himself after 7 games and was out for another month. Now they’re bringing him back slowly, on minutes-restrictions and coming off the bench. And it worked. The Bucks haven’t lost a game since his return, they’re on a six-game winning streak, and Giannis has been on a tear since Khris is back.

In these last 6 games, Giannis is averaging over 40 points per game and nearly 15 rebounds per game. He cracked 50 twice in that stretch and only finished under 30 points once, with 29 points against Detroit, a game in which he only played 26 minutes. He’s averaging 32 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists for the season, incredible numbers for the Greek Freak. Not only was he a shoe-in for one of the 3 frontcourt spots for the All-Star game, he is blowing the MVP-race wide open again. Jokic still has the better numbers, but voter-fatigue will play a role when the time comes to pick the MVP. And with Embiid, Doncic and Tatum, we have a 5 horse race to take this one out. And even if he misses out, Giannis is still the favourite to take out Defensive Player of the Year.

We’re going to see an interesting battle in the East for the Playoff spots. It’s going to be a tight battle for top spot between Boston, Philly and Milwaukee. Boston has an easy run so far but Milwaukee and Philly managed to stay close while they weren’t quite at their peak. After the All-Star break, we’ll see a great battle because neither of these teams will want to finish second or third, facing each other in the second round. Giannis took on Boston pretty much on his own last year in the second round, if he has some help this year, things will look different for the Bucks. Giannis is the best player in the world right now, and if he has a healthy team around him, I don’t know who would be capable of stopping him.

PICK #4

Your fourth pick is Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. JT is the best player on the best team in the league. It’s no surprise he’s picked as a starter on the All-Star team and in the conversation for the MVP. He has improved his game every single season and is not showing any signs of slowing down. Where it was still a question in previous seasons who is more important for the Celtics, Tatum or Brown, I believe that question is now officially answered. JT is the clear number 1 on this team, supported by an incredible number 2, Jaylen Brown, who also is very deserving of his All-Star selection this year, for the second time in his career. Tatum has been selected for the 4th time in a row, quite incredible considering JT is not even 25 yet.

With 30 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal per game, most of the Celtics basketball this season is going through Jayson Tatum. He is the focal point in offence and defence. League-wide he’s in the top 4 of the +/- per game, but he has played more games AND more minutes than any of the other 3 players in that list. And the scary part is, he still has room to grow. Tatum still makes some mistakes on the court that we can attribute to his age and experience in the league. When I see him play, I have to think back at LeBron and his Cavaliers struggling to get past the experienced Celtics. JT is better surrounded than LeBron ever was, and after setbacks in the Eastern Conference Finals and last season's NBA Finals, I think Tatum and the Celtics are as ready as they’ll ever be to take things all the way this season.

And, unfortunately for Tatum, I think that he’ll actually need to win before he will receive any of the personal accolades. Tatum is already suffering from voter-fatigue, even though he hasn’t won anything yet. He has been at the top of the league since he was a rookie, getting to the Conference Finals in his rookie year, and even though he was incredible that whole season, he missed out Rookie of the Year honours behind Ben Simmons and Donovan Mitchell. Isn’t that laughable, looking at it now. But, I fear, that will be the story of Tatum’s career. He’ll clearly be the best player out there and yet, always seem to miss out on individual accolades. A bit like Curry missing out on NBA Finals MVPs in all those Championship winning years. Some players are just destined to be taken for granted, but Tatum is the real deal, and I hope he will be rewarded for it when the time comes.

PICK #5

Your fifth pick is Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets. It’s far from certain if KD will actually play in this All-Star game. The 13-time All-Star is out with a knee injury, and will only be re-assessed this week. If we get positive news, that doesn’t mean that he will be cleared to play immediately, chances are that he’ll need some time to ramp up and I think it is more likely we’ll see him make his return after the All-Star break. If we get negative news this week chances are that we won’t see him until the Playoffs, which all of a sudden is questionable the Nets will even make it there, after Kyrie’s trade demand. I quietly believe that we won’t see Durant in a Nets jersey ever again. I hope they find a way to trade him to Golden State before the deadline this week. Or, he might shut it down for this season once Kyrie leaves and get the Nets front office to find him a new destination this offseason.

In saying all that, let’s not forget why KD was picked to be an All-Star. He hasn’t played in a month, and still managed to edge out Embiid for the starting positions. Not to mention that KD and Kyrie are the only duo to be selected for the starter positions throughout the league. He wasn’t playing the best season of his career before he got injured, but he is the heart and soul of this Brooklyn team, carrying them all the time and he was the reason they sat in 2nd spot at one point. He had only missed one game up to that point, and the Nets have been average since he had to sit out. Funnily enough, Kyrie has stepped up in KD’s absence and obviously expected the Nets to succumb to his contract demands in return. Well, that backfired, didn’t it?

I feel for KD, he’s put all his eggs in Kyrie’s basket, and has supported him through all this bullshit all this time. What does he have to show for in return? He’s the leader of a franchise in disarray, a franchise that probably had the best possible roster any NBA team could ever have, when Harden was there, and now he has nothing. The only option KD has to save this season is to convince Kyrie to finish the season in Brooklyn, play like nothing has happened and just walk away at the end of it. If that’s not possible, well, what’s left? Kyrie goes and the Nets get next to nothing in return? Or he stays but he’ll sit out. It is so frustrating, just when they looked like they were putting it together. The Ben Simmons piece was still a problem, but surely they could have worked that out at some point. KD is approaching the end of his career and he deserves so much better.

This is our All-NBA team of the Week. Please share our podcast and give us 5 stars. If you have any questions, you can contact the show on eight2fouroffice@gmail.com. Thank you for listening, ballers out!