A panel of eight NBA scouts and executives polled by Tim Bontemps of ESPN nearly unanimously view LeBron James as the league’s best player, but voted Luka Doncic as the frontrunner for the MVP award in 2021.
“It’s hard to see Giannis winning three in a row,” a Western Conference scout told ESPN. “And I think there’s more of an opportunity for Luka to kind of put on an MVP show and do more on an individual basis.”
Bontemps also had those scouts and execs weigh in with their thoughts on the 2020 offseason, polling them on which teams had the most success upgrading their roster in either the short or long term — or both. Half the panelists picked the Lakers as the team that had the best offseason, with the Hawks, Thunder, and Sixers also receiving votes. Meanwhile, the Pistons, Rockets, and Bucks got votes for the worst offseason.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Free agent guard Jeremy Lin practiced this weekend with the G League Ignite ahead of their scrimmages on Tuesday and Thursday, league sources tell Adam Zagoria of Forbes (Twitter link). Lin wasn’t among the veteran players previously announced as part of the Ignite, but Zagoria suggests in his full story that the veteran is expected to suit up with the squad on Tuesday.
- Dakota Schmidt of Ridiculous Upside is keeping tabs on which teams are expected to opt in and out of the G League’s proposed Atlanta-area bubble. With the NBA’s opening night just over a week away, it seems like a formal update on the plans for the NBAGL should be right around the corner.
- After making a clerical error that cost client Anthony Carter approximately $3MM in 2003, agent Bill Duffy vowed to repay Carter in full and has made good on that promise, making the last of his payments to Carter this year, as Sopan Deb writes in an interesting story for The New York Times.
If LeBron repeats his numbers from last season while the Lakers finish top two in the league LeBron should absolutely win MVP. Luka will get his day eventually.
They only made him one of the finalists last year because of who he is.
Luka will replace him as one of the three MVP finalists in 2021.
Yeah just led the league in assists while leading his team to a championship. You are seriously one of the most biased and constantly asinine posters on this site.
He’s really Sillyman, loves trolling and riling up folks
He is definitely just trolling, but he does a good job of it.
I doubt he is a Rockets fan at all.
My heart just breaks for Jeremy Lin…I really hope he gets his chance this season. The desire to play is like no other. Good luck, Jeremy
You see who the Warriors signed? Wanamaker. Do you remember our Lin chat? Ha. I like Lin too though.
ikr he was legit a star back in new york averaging all star numbers. the reason why he cant get a job is cuz hes got a history of injuries but still he could be excellent when he gets a bigger role.
I compared the 19-20 stats of the Bucks with the 19-20 stats of the players on the 20-21 roster. Total minutes were similar (17,600 vs 17,400). There were slight declines in Def Reb and Blocks and a slight increase in assists. The scoring efficiency has taken a hit (19-20 listed first followed by 20-21)…FG% 47.6 – 46.5…3P% 35.5 – 34.4…eFG% 55.2 – 53.5.
Defensively, I think that they are worse off especially in the front court where they have little depth.
On paper, it seems the Bucks are worse off and changed the roster for the sake of “doing something.” The hope has to be that Giannis, Khris et al will raise the play of Jrue, Portis, et al. and that Bud figures out a way to get synergy (1+1=3). If I were Giannis I wouldn’t sign a contract until I saw how this plays out.
They changed the roster in part to get rid of Bledsoe. Whether that trade ultimately plays out in their favor is yet to be seen.
And they did attempt to make 1 other notable upgrade(?) with the Bogdonavich deal that fell through (which i’m still confused about how that whole thing even happened..).
So I wouldn’t say the moves they made were “just to do something.” Although after the sign and trade went sideways the argument can certainly be made that they went into scramble mode to fill out the roster.
It’s been reported, after the Bucks traded for Jrue, Bogdanovic realized he was going to be the 4th option on offense and it limited how much the Bucks could offer him salary wise so he decided to test the market instead. I can’t blame Horst for adding Holiday if it was going to be one or the other.
It should not have had to be one or the other. They got influenced into thinking they needed a third star, even though the Lakers just won a title with two. Why people think that IDK. They possibly ruined their last third star, Bledsoe.
Now they’re thin. They have 4 forwards and one center basically. Lopez, Portis, Giannis, Kris, and Tory Craig.
Needed Dario Saric and Monte Morris or Alex Caruso IMO. They would NOT have been hard gets especially compared to Jrue. They could have had Bogans, Morris, Saric, and their future firsts.
wel, they still have giannis’s older brother thanasis.
That would be such an awesome season if Luka gets the MVP… Flipping unbelievable!
Can’t wait to see Luka dominating & been crowned the new king of the league!
You can’t wait to see him “crowned the new king of the league”? Umm..
Should Luka be worried about you? Do you have his home address?
You shouldn’t question him…my people tell me his name literally translates to “The Don.” He’s not just some random Don…he’s the one. Just friendly advice.
Good Point.
Sorry El Don…
So I’ll make my point short and sweet. The simple reason JLIN cannot get another shot in the NBA is RACISM. He’s faced it throughout his career and that fact that everyone plays it off as “the Miami Heat finally figured him out” is BS. The whole “flash in the pan” is garbage. You don’t accomplish what JLIN did by luck. That’s pure SKILL… at the highest level of competition. Say what you will, but there are a lot of PG’s currently in the NBA that JLIN is equal to in skill set, if not better. Delladova, Beverly, Bledsoe, even VanVleet to name some…
“Leave Britney alone!”
Delly, Beverly, Bledsoe and VanVleet? Lin is better than all of them. I put him on the same level as Iverson except taller.
Indeed Delly, Beverley, FVV, etc are no better than Lin in terms of skills & athleticism. However, these dudes don’t over-step on their roles and they shoot only when they have to.
Lin is a scoring PG by heart, he’s good at it. But unless your jersey shows Curry, Lillard, Paul, Young, etc, then you’re supposed to stay in line and know your role.
It’s a bit unfortunate, but that’s the way teams view Lin. He’s good but he is not the showcase and he rocks the boat, in the eyes of many.
Who knows, injuries might pile up on some teams this season …….. Lin should be ready.
Did you really say that Lin is better than VanVleet?!?
I’m out of here for the day, apparently the crazies are already out!!
Lin better than Vanvleet??? Okay analyst wanna be!
Should be talking more of what Bill Duffy did for his former client. $3M in NBA contract in 2003 is $10M in the league today.
ay rockets or blazers could pickup lin as a backup, but i dont see lin being satisfied with returning to houston which already has a james harden mess to deal with and the fact that his previous stint with the club didnt go so well. blazers could be a fir for him, since he plays similar to lillard, and simon is currently out with a hamstring injury.
da bucks should add another playmaker if they have an open spot, lin could be a great addition, maybe he will get a chance to win a ring i the bucks improve this year. napier is another addition cuz for now they got a bunch of shooters and nothing else.