Goeiedag, enchantée and welcome to this week's episode of Eight 2 Four presents: All-NBA Team of the Week. As most players are still enjoying some time off before their due back at training camp, we will start taking a look forward to next season. In October, during the preseason games, we’ll give our predictions for the Eastern and Western Conference but before we get there we want to take a look at individual players. We can imagine that the usual superstars will perform at their exceptional levels, Steph Curry, LeBron, Giannis, Durant, Luka, Trae, Harden, Kyrie, Embiid, Jokic, Booker and I’m forgetting a fair few. These guys will all be in contention one way or another for the MVP-race or stat leaders. These are not the guys we want to talk about, because we expect them to perform at the highest level. Today, we want to take a look at 5 players that are not quite at that level yet but are looking to make a leap this season. Get ready for your All-NBA Team of the Week!
PICK #1
Our first pick of the week is Zach LaVine of the Chicago Bulls. Many of you will argue that LaVine is playing at a high level and doesn’t need to make a leap. I beg to differ. I think LaVine has another level in him, maybe even 2 more. If the new pieces on the Bulls fit, and that is a big if, LaVine could follow the same trajectory as Devin Booker last season. He can be the absolute superstar on his team, surrounded by young talent and good vets. Can DeMar DeRozan be LaVine’s Chris Paul? Time will tell, but I do believe that the Bulls could pleasantly surprise us in the coming season.
Zach Lavine is 26 and going into his 8th year in the league. Last season he was selected an All-Star for the first time in his career and at the Olympic Games, he showed us that there are aspects to his game that we haven’t seen yet. He has improved his game every year, getting better in almost every aspect on the court. If he can take another leap offensively this season, and add a defensive component to his game, he will genuinely be one of the best 15 players in the Eastern Conference. And that is where Zach aims to be in the final year of his contract with the Bulls. He will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, and he might want to test the market before deciding if he wants to recommit to Chicago.
The Bulls just missed out on the Play-In games last season, finishing in the 11th spot. Based on the players they added to the roster in the offseason, they’re aiming to skip those Play-In games and qualify for a spot in the Playoffs. With DeRozan, Vucevic, Lonzo and Caruso they have basically put four new starters around LaVine and with Patrick Williams, Derek Jones Jr, Coby White and now Alize Johnson, they have a lot of depth on the bench as well. With Billy Donovan at the helm, I believe that these Bulls have enough quality to finish 6th, but the competition for that final Playoff spot will be tough. A few bad games to mean the difference between Playoff, Play-In or an early holiday, like last year.
PICK #2
Our second pick of the week is Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies. I’m really struggling to read the tea leaves on the Grizzlies for the coming season. They could be either really good, really bad, or just average, like last year. What I do know is that they are loaded with good, young players and have a massive upside. If they’re not good this coming season, they’ll be great the following. It is really hard to imagine that the Grizzlies will be worse than last season. If they are, it would be more because their competition got better than the Grizzlies themselves getting worse. But Ja will lead his team to battle every single game. Grit and grind is back in Memphis, and the whole league is excited about it.
Ja is a future superstar in this league. He is quick, agile, can score from some crazy angles and he’s not scared. We’ll never forget how he dunked on Aron Baynes in his rookie season. And on top of that he is humble. He is happy in Memphis and looks like he’ll want to stay there for quite a while. He will be eligible at the end of this season to sign his rookie extension, like Luka and Trae did during this offseason, and he stands to earn a small fortune. Even if he doesn’t make another leap this year, the Grizzlies will not give up on Ja that quickly.
Last season, the Grizzlies snuck into the Playoffs by beating first the Spurs and then the Warriors in the Play-In tournament. It’s really because of the Grizz that the Play-Ins were a huge success and here to stay. The Grizzlies have been really active during the offseason, but the biggest advantage they have is that they can go into training camp with a healthy roster. Last year, Jaren Jackson Jr was injured for the majority of the season and struggled fitting in on his return. But starting the season with a healthy Triple J, a hungry Ja and a whole bunch of quality role players, this Memphis team could relive the 2010 to 2015 glory days. They even brought Marc Gasol back to make the picture complete.
PICK #3
Our third pick of the week is Karl-Anthony Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Wolves are hungry, and they should be. It has been 6 years since Minnesota drafted KAT and so far, they have nothing to show for it, except for a miserable Playoff series loss against the Rockets in 2018. KAT was drafted into a roster with youngsters Zach LaVine and Bradley Wiggins, vets Kevin Martin and Andre Miller and Championship winners Kevin Garnett and Tayshaun Prince. Being the number 1 pick, KAT was destined to lead this team, or a version of it at least, to greatness. But even though he has improved as a player throughout his career, he has never been able to beat the inability of his front office.
As we know, LaVine was traded to the Bulls for Butler, who forced his way out within a year. He played 69 games for the Timberwolves in 2 half seasons. That whole saga set the team back a fair bit. On top of that, when they finally looked like they were recovered, the front office traded Wiggins and their all-important first round pick to the Warriors for D’Angelo Russell. Yes, Russell and KAT are friends and the front office did this trade to make KAT happy, but I’m not sure if it was the smartest move to make. Anyway, Anthony Edwards has proven to be a quality player so even though they missed out this year on a quality rookie, their roster looks ready for a decent season.
The Wolves are at the start of a new era. New owners Marc Lore and former baseball star Alex Rodriguez bought the Wolves during the off-season and the front office has made some smart moves, adding some good role players to the roster. On top of all of that KAT is ready, after 2 years of personal misery, to make a spectacular comeback to the league. Offensively, he can compete with Jokic and Embiid as one of the better centers in the league and he could very well be in the MVP conversation, based on last year's results. If he can take a leap defensively and carry his team mates, Minnesota could have a chance to make it to the Play-In games, or maybe even more.
PICK #4
Our fourth pick of the week is De’Aaron Fox of the Sacramento Kings. The Kings are on the verge of breaking an amazing, but equally painful record in the NBA as the team with the longest Playoff drought. By missing out on the Playoffs last season, they tied the 15 year drought the LA Clippers endured between 1977 and 1991. If they miss out again on the Playoffs this season, they will take that crown from the Clippers. There’s no team out there that deserves to beat a terrible record the Clippers set under Donald Sterling, the worst owner in league history. That’s where Fox comes in, he needs to be the saviour for the Kings this season.
Fox has expressed that he doesn’t feel responsible for the record, and he shouldn’t. After all, this will only be his fifth season in the league. But he has also said that he wants to stay in Sacramento and turn this team from a dumpster fire into a team that can compete with the best of them. Fox already made a big leap last season, taking his responsibility on the court as the main man. Supported by Buddy Hield and Tyrese Haliburton, we could already see the start of something decent on the Kings’ roster.
Add a good draft to that and potentially the best Ben Simmons package currently available and the Kings could be pretty close at breaking their Playoff drought. But they will have to get past the Timberwolves, the Pelicans, the Spurs and the Grizzlies to secure a spot in the Play-In games. Wouldn’t it be funny if they meet the Clippers, who will likely play without Kawhi all year, in that decisive game in the Play-In tournament. Think about the symbolism if they can beat the Clippers to finally break their Playoff drought.
PICK #5
Our fifth pick of the week is RJ Barrett of the New York Knicks. It’s going to be difficult for the Knicks to do better than last season. They could even improve as a team and still fall down the standings. They were a solid team, playing from a strong defensive set-up, and built entirely around brand-new All-Star Julius Randle. The only thing the Knicks need to do to improve is by creating more options on the offensive end. And the easiest way to do that is for RJ to take a leap. By unlocking RJ’s potential, the Knicks could secure their spot in the Playoffs for years to come.
And that is where things get difficult. RJ is a great player but is he a number 2 on a good team? Opinions around the league are very different when it comes to Steve Nash’s godson. Some say he has already reached his sealing and he is destined to be a high quality role player on a good team. Others say that he can take on the number 2 spot on a great team. It is up to RJ this season to show us what he can do and give us all a clear idea of what his sealing can be. The Knicks are expecting the same from him based on the moves they made during the offseason.
The Knicks are loaded on the backcourt positions. Within 2 years, they have completely flipped from a power forward franchise to a guard franchise. It started when they added Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier in the offseason, a point and shooting guard. They drafted Miles McBride and Quentin Grimes, another point and shooting guard. And, of course, they still have Derrick Rose and Immanuel Quickley, another point and shooting guard. If RJ can’t convince the front office that he is THE future of the Knicks, he might be heading out the door pretty soon.
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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