Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. We are slowly approaching the crucial part of the regular season in the NBA. This week is the trade deadline, so teams only have a few days left to make a few moves. The All-Stars have been picked and the game is less than 2 weeks away. And once we hit the end of Feb, most teams will have less than 20 games left to play. This week, we focus on the 5 teams with the longest current winning streaks. Surprisingly, only 1 of these teams sits in a guaranteed Playoff spot, the rest hover around the Play-In spots and lower! Get ready for your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Fred Van Vleet of the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors have won 5 games in a row and sit in 7th in the East, only half a game back from the Nets who have dropped to 6th. Talk about overachieving! And they have Steady Freddy, the brand new All-Star, to thank for it. In the four games they played in the last week, he averaged just shy of a double double, with 21 points per game and just under 10 assists per game. He’s been shooting 40% from deep, on just under 9 attempts per game. And to top it all off, it’s not like they have been playing bottom feeders, no! They played Miami and Atlanta twice, 2 teams that were on a hot streak until they versed the Raptors, and the Bulls, the number 1 in the Eastern Conference. When I did my predictions for the East, I did not expect them to be doing this.
And Fred is not the only one performing at a high level, their current starting 5, with Pascal Siakam at center, OG Anunoby, Gary Trent Jr and rookie sensation Scottie Barnes, has logged the most minutes across the NBA in the last 5 games, games they all won. Siakam is back to his championship winning level, OG is one of the toughest defenders in the league, Trent Jr is a scoring machine, and Barnes is in contention for Rookie of the Year. It took a while, but Head Coach Nick Nurse got the machine clicking and they are firing on all cylinders right now. And with Boucher and Achiuwa, they have 2 solid role players coming off the bench, and Goran Dragic could be an important piece if they want to try something before the trade deadline.
A Playoff spot is not impossible for this Raptors team, but they will need to keep playing this way for the rest of the season. The competition in the East is tough, with Boston and Charlotte right on their heels and the red-hot Hawks climbing in the standings fast. But if Fred Van Vleet can continue his career-season, things look bright for the Raptors. The 27-year old has improved his stats across the board, mainly because he’s been taking Kyle Lowry’s minutes, but impressive nonetheless. He can now look forward to a well-deserved All-Star game, being picked as a reserve guard over the likes of LaMelo Ball, Bradley Beal and Jaylen Brown. You could even go as far as claiming he had just as much right to that starting spot as Trae Young, unfortunately he is just not as popular. But that could change if he can lead this Raptor team to the Playoffs.
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is Anthony Edwards of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The number 1 pick from 2020 is putting some serious question marks around Karl-Anthony Towns being the star of this team. In his second year in the league, he already has 4 40+ point games on his resume, with his career high being 48 points against the Warriors in November. Now, it is important to clarify that KAT is still the dominant force on this team, but as a 26-year old center with a great shot and handles, you’d expect as much. But the fact that Ant-Man is already raising doubts, tells me enough for what’s to come in the future.
The Timberwolves are at a turning point for the franchise. It’s been already more than 2 years since they traded Wiggins for D’Angelo Russell and up until recently, we haven’t really seen any results from that trade. It was one of those make or break trades for a franchise, where the Wolves also saw their 7th pick in the 2021 draft go to Golden State. That pick ended up being Jonathan Kuminga, a player that would have slotted in nicely around KAT, D-Lo and Ant-Man. But, like I said, things are looking better recently. They are 7 and 3 in their last 10 games and are currently on a 3 game winning streak. That has put them in 7th in the West, only a game behind the Nuggets and a Playoff spot.
Edwards is one of those players you watch basketball for. He is an athletic shooting guard, very strong and an exceptional finisher around the ring. It is very difficult to stop him, and he proves that by dunking all over guys on a regular basis. He has been selected for the Rising Star game, a new format with 4 teams of 7 players, drafted from a pool of 28 players. And who was the number 1 pick? Yep, Anthony Edwards. This kid is making it a habit to be selected first. He wants to win, and he will not stop until he wins that Chip, I’m sure of it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Wolves make a cheeky move before the trade deadline, to propel themselves into the Playoff and speed up their journey towards that NBA Championship.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Lu Dort of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Who would have expected that OKC has one of the 5 longest winning streaks in the NBA at this time in the season? They have won 3 in a row, beating Portland at home before getting wins in Dallas and Portland again. And Lu was fantastic in all 3 games, but especially against Dallas, where he went for 30 points. He shot over 50% from the floor, including 6 of 10 from deep and he was flawless from the line. He added 6 rebounds and 3 assists to really push his team to the win, despite their superstar SGA being out with an ankle sprain.
We are entering the phase of the competition where teams start to look at the standings and make changes to their line-up to suit their goals. For most teams that means they try to find some upgrades at the deadline and push themselves slightly higher in the standings. In OKC, they do the opposite. We’ll see successful players either being traded away or sat down for long stretches of games. Remember last season when Al Horford was told not to show up and SGA missed nearly 30 games because of a so-called foot injury? If they are planning a similar scenario for Dort, I truly hope they trade him so at least we’ll get to see him play. But GM Sam Presti is very unpredictable and capable of anything.
OKC has a bigger picture in mind. Sam Presti has built a potential Championship Team through the draft before, with KD, Westbrook, Harden and Ibaka, and he is convinced he can do it again and better. He has the draft chest to back it up too. OKC owns 38 draft picks between now and the 2028 draft, 38 picks over the next 7 drafts and 19 of those picks are first rounders. Presti can afford to miss some or package some together to trade up, but with Josh Giddey and Tre Mann, the 6th and 18th pick, he seems to have added another 2 good players to his roster without having to pick in the top 3. The future's looking good for Oklahoma City, and with Lu, they have the perfect piece to fit around any superstar, whether that is SGA or someone else.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics. It took a while but it seems like Tatum is back to his old self. The Celtics are on a tear, winning 4 games in a row, beating the Pelicans, Miami by 30(!), Charlotte and Detroit. In those 4 games Tatum has averaged over 25 points per game, nearly 9 rebounds and 5 and a half assists per game. They are 7 and 3 in their last 10 and have climbed to the 8th spot on the ladder in the East. They still have a lot of work to do to fix this roster but at least the guys on the court are finally doing their part. With games against the Magic, Nets, Nuggets and Hawks, the Celtics are looking at a really important week to consolidate their position on the ladder. Winning 4 out of 4 could mean slipping into the top 6. Losing 1 or 2 and they could drop to 10th.
Pretty much the whole regular season, we’ve heard rumblings that Tatum and Jaylen Brown can’t play together anymore and that this would be the year that they would get split up. Both of them have denied any issues between each other and are more than happy to continue together. And I believe them. Boston’s rough season so far is not because of bad chemistry between these players, it’s because the pieces around them do not fit. New GM, and old Head Coach, Brad Stevens has been very busy since he took over from Danny Ainge during the offseason. But despite the addition of Al Horford, Dennis Shroder and Josh Richardson, this roster is simply not good enough to compete for a home court Playoff spot.
Looking forward to the trade deadline, the Celtics have a few moves they could make but the big one would be Marcus Smart. Smart is rumoured in trades pretty much every year and this season is no different. They could also use Richardson or Schroder and maybe someone is even willing to pay Horford’s salary. But the fact that we bring up all the players Stevens’ has brought in in the last 6 months, should tell us that those moves were not that great. Really, what Boston needs is their younger players to step up. Payton Pritchard, Aaron Nesmith, Romeo Langford, Grant Williams. These are guys with 2 or 3 years of experience in the league but don’t seem to have improved much. If Head Coach Udoka can get these guys to step up, the Celtics might not even need to trade anyone.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is Kevon Looney of the Golden State Warriors. Not a week goes by without having to consider adding a player of the Golden State Warriors to our All-NBA Team of the Week. And this week was no different. Even though he is going through a bit of a slump, Steph is always going to be the man on this team and should be considered every week. Klay Thompson is pretty much back to his old self, shooting 6 for 6 from behind the arc in the first half against the Kings. Wiggins is an All-Star starter and Draymond Green is, well, Draymond. But he didn’t play last week. No, Green has been out for a month with a bad back and we don’t know when he will return. Did you notice Draymond hasn’t played in that long? That right there is why we chose Kevon Looney as our fifth pick of the week.
Looney is the only true center on this roster and has to step up every game to battle with those big dudes, like Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, Karl-Anthony Towns, Deandre Ayton, you name it. He’s the one battling for the rebounds, grabbing more than 10 per game since Draymond’s absence, up from 7 for the season. That’s incredible! He is also the guy now that Curry and the rest need to rely on for their screens, cutting, being in the right place, you name it. And he does it flawlessly. In fact, I want to go so far in saying that Looney has taken on the Draymond role nearly perfectly, so his absence goes by unnoticed.
In a week where the Warriors are missing Draymond, and both Curry and Klay missed a game, while Curry is going through a shooting slump, the Warriors still won 8 games in a row and are 9 and 1 in their last 10 games. It is unbelievable that this team, where they were last season, is the second best team in the league right now. They are a true contender, and have a real chance of getting to the NBA Finals, because this team is only going to get better as they play together. And being able to rely on guys like Looney, role players who are not craving the spotlight, role players who crave to run the plays exactly the way they are meant to be run, these are the guys that help you win a Championship in the end.
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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