Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. We did people, we’ve made it through another horrible year and successfully started 2022. Hopefully the world has turned a corner and we can all start to focus on newer and better things: in life, love and basketball! The last few weeks have been very strange around the NBA courts, mainly because so many players have been placed in Health and Safety Protocols and teams had to add G-League players left, right and center. It felt like watching The Replacements movie, with Keanu Reeves, playing out in real life. But to his credit, Adam Silver has pushed through and we can finally see some normalcy return to the league. Instead of reviewing these strange games, we decided to set 5 New Year’s Resolutions for the NBA teams for the remainder of the season. Get ready for your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first resolution is trade, trade, trade. The trade deadline is only 5 weeks away, February 10th to be exact, and we haven’t really seen any movement since the end of August when the Bulls traded Markkanen to the Cavaliers, who send Larry Nance Jr to Portland and they send Derrick Jones Jr back to Chicago. Yes, we have seen some movements after that, but not one trade that could potentially move the needle. After so many trade rumours throughout the first half of the season, many fans are hungry for a real trade. Rajon Rondo for a roster spot and cap space is really not cutting it.
Now, before we get ahed of ourselves, we do have to keep in mind that all front offices around the league have been swamped the last month, just keeping their roster filled with at east 8 players. Players are placed in Health and Safety Protocols continously and teams have struggled to find replacement players. Just have a look at the Players Transaction page on NBA.com, keeping track of who’s who and who’s where is nearly impossible. Hopefully we have seen the peak of cases around the league and rosters will stabilise over the next couple of weeks so front offices can concentrate on making those big trades to win championships.
Talking about winning championships, there are a few teams out there that need to make a move to be competitive this offseason. Of all the teams, I see only 3 teams strong enough to go all the way with their current roster. Obviously, the 2 teams that played the Finals last season: the Bucks and the Suns, and the Warriors are the third team, although we still need to see Klay return. They might want to make a move closer to the deadline after all. Everyone else needs to make a move. Especially the Nets and the Jazz, both teams that have a lot on the line if they don’t win this season. Half a Kyrie will not be enough in the Playoffs, and KD and Harden need a deeper roster. In Salt Lake City, the Jazz prove year after year they have a fantastic team for the regular season, but when the Playoffs come around, they fall short. I’m not sure who or what they need, but they need something. And obviously, we still have the whole Ben Simmons saga that needs to be sorted out. Time to get trading, teams!
PICK #2
Our second resolution is to show some respect for the regular season. It’s a long season, 82 games is no joke, and I don’t mind that teams try to preserve themselves as much as possible but it has been very obvious that the teams don’t cares about what happens before Christmas. Of course, we can’t look at the last 3 weeks because they were a complete disaster for everyone but certain teams have been turning it on and off from the start of the season. Yes, there are excuses. The Bucks had to play without Middleton, Holiday and Lopez, the Sixers are without Simmons, the Nets without Kyrie, the Lakers have a completely new roster, the Nuggets have been playing 1 on 5 for the majority of the season now. I mean, every team can call on some sort of excuse.
But at some point that is all they are, excuses. I mean, just take a look at the standings. The Knicks and Hawks, 4 and 5 in last year’s standings, have both fallen below the Play-In games and are really struggling to put anything together on a court. Even a career-high of 53 by Trae Young is not enough to win a game. The Celtics, in the Conference Finals 3 out of the last 5 seasons, are falling apart in front of our eyes. In the West, the Blazers and the Clippers can’t seem to play without their superstars. The Blazers are 2 and 5 without Lillard and the Clippers are 5 and 7 without Paul George but they haven’t been all that special with him either. They need Kawhi back. And then the Pelicans, who are supposed to have a team to help Zion get to the Playoffs, are embarrassingly bad without him.
It’s safe to assume that most teams are ready to turn it on, now that we’re nearly at the half of the regular season. The battle for playoff seeding and play-in games can begin. This is was a great success last season and I’m looking forward to the final push of teams after the All-Star Break. But I agree with Adam Silver if he says that the NBA needs a midseason tournament to increase interest around the league. Only, this tournament should not be additional to the regular season, it needs to replace a portion of it. Take away 15 games or so and use those to hold a tournament. It will make the regular season more exciting because the teams have less games to qualify for the Playoffs and it will increase excitement around fans if their team manages to win an additional prize halfway through the season. And all of this without any extra pressure on players. Using an appealing prize where both finalists of the midseason tournament automatically have homecourt advantage in the Playoffs, should be enough to motivate even the biggest doubters.
PICK #3
Our third resolution is to show older, experienced players the respect they deserve. This one is more aimed at fans and media, instead of the teams and I’m sure everyone knows exactly what I am talking about. The Lakers are having a hard time making their roster work. The team is old, with a lot of players having to play differently than they did earlier in their career. LeBron is now playing center, Westbrook needs to become a pass-first point guard, Carmelo has to be a catch and shoot specialist who waits in the corner, Dwight Howard needs to be 10 years younger and Talen Horton-Tucker needs to be Alex Caruso. Turnovers are through the roof, easy shots are being missed and winnable games are lost. Everybody has given up on this team, and yet, I think the Lakers are not finished yet.
Before the start of the season, I made the prediction that this team will stand or fall with Anthony Davis. This is the year that he has to stand up and become the number 1 on this team. And so far, he hasn’t. Obviously, he is injured right now but before his injury he was not playing like a number 1. The Lakers and LeBron believe that AD can be a number 1, that’s the bet they made when they traded for him. If they’re right, the Lakers will be fine. But if they’re not, they should try to trade him as fast as they can. Me personally, I don’t believe AD can be the number 1 on a team. Don’t get me wrong, he is a fantastic player but he doesn’t have that “over my dead body” mentality that a number 1 needs. Luckily for the Lakers, LeBron is not washed up just yet and seems capable of dragging them to the Finals one more time.
Another prediction I made about the Lakers, back in November, is that we shouldn’t really expect them at full steam until after Christmas. LeBron is famous for taking things slow during the regular season and looking at Westbrook’s last 2 seasons, in Houston and Washington, he was horrible at the start of the season but completely turned it around in the second half. Who’s to say he won’t do the same this time around. Granted, watching him missing open dunks in transition is worrying but I stand by my prediction. The Lakers are only going to turn it on this month, and they are only half a game out of the top 6. Nothing is lost for these guys, they will figure it out.
PICK #4
Our fourth resolution is to give young guys time to develop. Teams are now drafting kids into the league and fans are expecting them to contribute immediately. When they struggle, they are cast aside as useless and people move on to their new toy. The best example is possibly James Wiseman, the number 2 pick in the 2020 draft. In comparison to the other 2 picks in the top 3, Anthony Edwards and LaMelo Ball, Wiseman looked really bad when he played for the Warriors. He struggled to learn the system and couldn’t maintain the level of a decent NBA player. The result for Wiseman was that he was despised by his home fans and ridiculed around the league. A bit rough for someone who hadn’t really played any basketball the year before he was drafted.
Lucky for Wiseman, the Warriors are a fantastic organisation and they will not simply dump him. Rumours are that they like what they see and he is still part of their plans for the future. But in most franchises, this would have been the end for Wiseman. Other names that come to mind are Dennis Smith Jr, dumped by Dallas in the Porzingis trade and now in Portland trying to find his feet. Markelle Fultz, dumped by the Sixers because they didn’t want to fix his mental issues, he was finally finding is form in Orlando when he tore his ACL. D’Angelo Russell, a Kyrie-light, passed around the league like a hot potato. And, of course, Andrew Wiggins, who was given way too much attention just because he was a number 1 pick. He should never have been the number 1 pick but he deserves his place in this league.
The point I’m trying to make is that some of the biggest success stories from the draft happen because the team is invested in the player’s future and is patient. The biggest examples in recent history are Giannis, Curry and Jokic. When Giannis was drafted by the Bucks, nobody expected him to win 2 MVP’s and a Finals MVP, alongside 5 All-NBA selections. When Curry was drafted by the Warriors, nobody expected him to break all the 3-point records. And when the Nuggest drafted Jokic at 41, they didn’t think he would become the cornerstone of their franchise and an MVP. Not all draft picks are LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Luka Doncic or Ja Morant. Give these youngsters time and surround them by experienced vets, it’s the only way to get them to reach their true potential.
PICK #5
Our fifth resolution is to enjoy the quality of the league because it is sky-high right now. There is so much talent in the league, it is incredible. Young players are reaching higher levels earlier and older players extend their careers by re-inventing their game. Steph Curry broke the all-time 3-point record, in Madison Square Garden to add to the fairy tale. Josh Giddey became the youngest player in the league to record a triple-double, after breaking LaMelo’s record, who broke it last season. In fact, the five youngest players to record a triple double in the league all did it in the last 5 years. The Grizzlies recorded the biggest win in NBA history after beating OKC by 73 points.
These are just a few of the remarkable feats that happened this year. And the league has been on record breaking course for a while now. I’m afraid that a lot of people are looking at this as the new normal but we might be in for a surprise. Yes, the future of the league is secure in the hands of Giannis, Luka, Trae, Ja, SGA and a whole bunch of other young superstars. So when LeBron, KD, Curry, Kawhi and the rest decide to hang up their shoes, we don’t have to worry. And the way the league is now expanding the G-League program and started recruiting in different countries of the world, is very encouraging. But these things ebb and flow.
There is a future ahead of us where the level of the NBA will not be as special as this generation. We won’t be short of superstar players, and hopefully the recruitment process of the League will raise the floor of the fringe players but I’m worried the all-round role-players will slowly disappear. Players are specialising and getting overpaid for a single aspect of their game while they are lacking the necessary skills to contribute fully. It will get harder and harder to surround the great players with good all-round role-players and a direct result will be that the game will suffer. Hopefully I’m wrong and the game will improve because of specialisation. Either way, the level of play we can see on the courts right now is worth cherishing. Happy New Year everyone!
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!
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