Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. Before we begin, I want to apologise to Joel Embiid. Last week I said that nothing would change my mind about Jokic being the MVP. Well, I was wrong. Joel Embiid, and Giannis too for that matter, have completely changed my mind about the MVP race and these last 15 games are going to be crucial. Right now, as I see it, Embiid is the clear favourite, followed closely by Jokic and Giannis. Denver will need to finish the season strong to give Jokic a chance to get back on top and Philly would have to stall in their last stretch but they’ve won 7 in a row so far. For Giannis to take out the MVP, the Bucks need to keep winning, Denver needs to keep losing and Philly needs to stall. The exciting part? All these scenarios are possible and even likely! So, I’m sorry, Joel! I wish you all the best for the remainder of the season! The end of the regular season approaches quickly and after every game it becomes more and more obvious what teams are going to miss out on the Playoffs this year. The Detroit Pistons, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets are already out of contention altogether. Other teams are still in the mix but it’s clear that they’re not excited about that Play-In tournament. This week, we’re focusing on 5 great players that we almost certainly won’t see after the regular season. I’m Peter Peake and this is your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Damian Lillard of the Portland Trailblazers. He leads all players with the most 40+ point games this season. Sitting at 15, he has 3 more games than Luka and Giannis, and, obviously, those include his 71 stunner against the Houston Rockets at the end of February and his 60 burger against Utah a month earlier. And in 5 other games he finished within a scoring opportunity of 40 points, so he could have been at 20 40+ games this season. But that is sort of the story of Lillard’s season, it could have been. The Blazers could have been in contention for a Playoff spot. They could have been a solid roster built around Lillard. He could have been the scoring leader, in points per game throughout the season he is only a point per game behind leader Joel Embiid. Sitting in 13th on the ladder in the West, 2 full games behind the Pelicans in 12th, the Blazers have had a truly disappointing season.
Damian Lillard is basically having the best season in his career. He’s averaging 32 points per game and his scoring efficiency is through the roof, with an effective field goal percentage of 57%. He’s almost perfect on his free throws, he’s having his best rebounding season bar one and is less than an assist per game removed from his best season there as well. This is the first full season Lillard has played without CJ McCollum in 8 and a half years, and he has stepped up and filled that void himself. And the Blazers have simply wasted it. Whoever thought that Jerami Grant and Jusuf Nurkic would be enough to help Dame clinch a Playoff spot, needs to be fired immediately. And even if they would have made it into the Playoffs, this version of Damian Lillard deserves to win it all, he earns the right to compete for a Championship. I know that he said on the JJ Redick podcast that he measures success differently, but Portland needs to give him the opportunity to challenge with the best teams in the league.
Yes, he has missed 14 games himself due to injury and if we calculate that in at his winning percentage for the team, the Blazers would have had at least 6 losses less, placing them just below the Phoenix Suns in 5th spot. But isn’t the whole point of building a team around Dame that they can take over when he is not available to play? Jerami Grant left Denver because he didn’t want to be the third violin. Well, he’s proven this season that he is not capable of being more than that on a winning team, it seems that putting up great stats on a shitty team in Detroit wasn’t as hard. Nurkic, who has also missed a whole heap of games, is not the offensive juggernaut he needs to be to allow for his defensive flaws. A broom would provide more cover under the basket. Anfernee Simons and Shaedon Sharpe have proven that they are solid pieces for the future, but they’re not consistent enough yet to help now. I truly hope that Portland will find a new owner soon, someone who is aware of Dame’s timeline and will do what it takes to give him that final chance at winning it all. Because who knows how much longer Dame can perform at this level?
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is Jalen Green of the Houston Rockets. Of all the teams tanking in the league right now, the Rockets are the worst, in my opinion. The Spurs have somewhat of a base to build on, and at the very least they have the know-how in the front office. The Pistons have some solid pieces on the roster they can build around and have some more than decent trade chips to cash in when the time is right. The Hornets are not that flash but with LaMelo Ball and Gordon Hayward they have some wiggle room. The Houston Rockets have a team of kids, the only ones that have some sort of long term experience in the league are Boban and Frank Kaminski, neither one is known for their solid NBA performances. These kids get their asses handed to them every night, it’s a surprise that they are not dead last. In fact, they have just won 3 games in a row. They don’t even lose properly. And if you listen to the rumours surrounding this team, they’re about to fire their coach, Stephen Silas, the poor guy doesn’t deserve this, and their GM, Rafael Stone, and their number 1 plan for this offseason is to bring James Harden back to Houston. What the actual fuck is going on down there?
I feel for Jalen Green, the second pick in the 2021 draft. Last season there was promise for the Rockets, they had a young core surrounded by some solid vets and he was going to be the future of this franchise. Then they picked Jabari Smith Jr with the third pick in the last draft and he was going to be the final piece of the puzzle. I truly expected them to have turned the page and they would start winning some games, much like the Orlando Magic are this season. But instead, the whole thing just collapsed like a house of cards. There is no consistency on the team, all the experienced players have been traded away and only 1 out of the 10 players with the most games for the Rockets this season is older than 22. That is Eric Gordon, by the way, who no longer plays for the Rockets. Green is averaging 21 points per game, not enough to lift this team to any kind of win and he simply does not have the support from his team mates, most of which shouldn’t be playing in the NBA altogether.
I fear for the Rockets next season. If the rumours are true and owner Tilman Fertitta, possibly one of the most radical business men in the league, if he is planning on clearing the slate and starting off fresh, it will set back the development of these kids even more. Guys like Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr, Jabari Smith, Alperen Sengun, Kenyon Martin Jr, all talented players, they need stability and they need to be surrounded by respected vets in the locker room. Not sure that James Harden is that kind of vet. I hope they figure it out in Houston, and quickly, because I’d hate for some of these guys to lose their chance of a solid NBA career due to bad management. And especially Jalen Green, who is capable of some very special things. I’ll always have a soft spot for him, we share a birthday, you see!
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Brandon Ingram of the New Orleans Pelicans. I’m not sure what to think of the New Orleans Pelicans. A couple of months into the season, they were the hottest ticket in town. I mean, in December they won 7 games in a row and they were sitting at the top of the Western Conference Standings. At that point, they were already playing without Brandon Ingram, who ended up missing about 30 games between the end of November and late January, but at least they had a healthy Zion. And Zion was so incredible that, even though he missed every game since the start of January, he still made the All-Star selection. But yeah, he ended up injured too, still without a timeline for his return and the Pelicans were without their two stars.
Since then the Pelicans have basically been playing with CJ McCollum, Jonas Valanciunas and a bunch of young players. There’s nothing wrong with any of these guys, except, they are not your top of the league players, they are role players, and once they started to get injured as well, the Pelicans had difficulties winning games against just about anyone. Since his return into the line-up, even Ingram has not been able to stop the bleeding, with the Pelicans only managing to win 5 out of 17 games. The worst results lately are losses against teams like the OKC and Houston, teams that are trying to lose on purpose, which I am assuming, the Pelicans are not. A 15 point loss against the Lakers this week, to me, is the low point of the season. It was only 3 months ago that we were talking about the Pelicans finishing in the top of the Western Conference AND ending up with a lottery pick thanks to the Lakers. Now their own pick will be much more valuable than the Lakers pick.
Maybe they are trying to lose, and are hoping for a miracle to end up with a top 3 pick in this years’ draft? It’s possible, but then they’ll have to keep losing because right now, they only just have a top 10 pick, with less than 20% chance of moving up into the top 4. Either way, we are looking at another disappointing season for the Pelicans, after we’ve seen what the potential is. I’m worried that the problem in New Orleans could be bigger than we think, because with so many players ending up injured, there might be an issue with the way they approach player’s health. We can’t accuse them of playing their guys too early, look at how careful they have been with Zion, but I think there’s something there that is not 100% right. Or maybe they’re just experts at tanking and we’ll see them at the top of the standings again next season, who knows?
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is Paolo Banchero of the Orlando Magic. Ladies and gentlemen, meet your Rookie of the Year, Paolo Banchero. Averaging 20 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists a game, this 20-year old has been consistent all season long. He only missed 7 games, after a sprained ankle, early on in the season, and hasn’t skipped a beat since. He is leading this young Magic team to their best season since the NBA bubble in 2020, when they ended the season with 33 wins. If Banchero and the rest can get 5 more wins in their remaining 11 games, that will be difficult, I know, but if they can do it, they’ll be just as good as that Vucevic, Gordon, Fournier team of a few years ago. And that would put this current roster ahead of schedule, by miles.
Surrounded by Franz Wagner, Markelle Fultz and Wendell Carter Jr, Orlando has the beginnings of a team that could grow into somewhat of a contender in the East. Obviously, we’re still far removed from this happening, but I would keep my eye on them. With Bol Bol, Jalen Suggs and a massive chance to end up with a top 3 pick in this coming draft, they still have some trump cards available that could pay off in the long run. And maybe, oh maybe, if Jonathan Isaac could stay healthy for more than 2 games in a row, he could be a crucial piece in this team’s future as well. You hear it, the future is looking good for the Magic.
It won’t be a surprise when Banchero gets the Rookie of the Year award this season. Even tough guys like Jalen Williams in OKC, Bennedict Mathurin in Indiana, Walker Kessler in Utah and Jaden Ivey in Detroit have had fantastic seasons themselves, Mathurin is high on the board for Sixth Man of the Year as well, none of them have come close to the season that Banchero had. He has been consistently the best player on his team, in his rookie year, and pretty much every win Orlando has this season can be attributed to him. Let’s see how the chips fall for Orlando this offseason, but I expect them to compete for a Play In game as early as next season.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is Kristaps Prozingis of the Washington Wizards. If you had said at the start of the season that the best players on the Washington Wizards, with a healthy Beal for the majority of the season, those players would have been Porzingis and Kyle Kuzma, nobody would have believed you. And now, with only 11 games left in their season, that’s the reality in Washington. Their 250 million dollar superstar is no better than 2 role players. They’re very good at what they do, but role players nonetheless. I don’t want to waste too much time on Beal, I already did a piece on him a couple of weeks ago and I don’t need to go into it again because two weeks on, my frustration with Beal hasn’t changed because he hasn’t changed.
Back to Porzingis. Averaging nearly 23 points per game and 8 and a half rebounds, he’s pretty much back at the same production as in that last year at the Knicks, when he was picked as an All-Star. He gets the freedom in Washington to make the plays and get the buckets without having to work around a Luka Doncic, like he did in Dallas. Obviously, Beal should be just as demanding as Luka, but again, not going there today. From KP’s point of view it’s fantastic because he finally gets another opportunity in the league to showcase that he is capable of being one of the best players on a team.
Washington is at an interesting crossroads this offseason, and they only have to ask themselves one question: “What to do with Bradley Beal”. They either double down, and possibly try to find upgrades on Kuzma and Porzingis, maybe Beal has some friends around the league he would like to play with that match contracts with those guys. Or, and I don’t see this as a realistic option, they finally cut the cord and let the league know that Beal is available. I’m not sure where he would go, especially because Beal has final say with his “no-trade clause” in his contract, but I’m sure he’d be willing to go somewhere. And then the question is, what can you get in return. A whole bunch of draft picks and keep building around Kuz and KP? They’re both 27 so you would need more players than picks. Tough call for GM Tommy Sheppard and his front office, but they’ve successfully made touch calls before with Wall and Westbrook.
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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