Cavaliers guard Darius Garland exhibited significant growth in his second NBA season, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, and his ceiling rose accordingly. “I think he can be an All-Star,” assistant coach Greg Buckner told head coach J.B. Bickerstaff during the club’s abbreviated 2020 training camp. “You don’t throw that out too many times, but there wasn’t anything he couldn’t do on offense. The talent is there. I think he’s going to be great. He’s going to be special. He’s one of those guys that can really take you far in the playoffs down the road.”
“He’s super talented,” said assistant coach J.J. Outlaw of the Cavaliers guard, who saw his output develop across the board during the 2020/21 season. “He has really, really good court vision, which is one of the reasons all of his teammates love playing with him. I feel good about where he is. I feel good about the work he’s put in.”
There’s more out of the Eastern Conference:
- Hawks reserve shooting guard Kevin Huerter, the No. 19 pick out of Maryland in 2018, carved out a starring role in a critical Game 7 series during Atlanta’s second-round series against the Sixers, per Michael Cunningham of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Huerter, eligible for a contract extension during the 2021 offseason, put up 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting to help get the team through to the Eastern Finals. “We’ve all seen his skillset he possesses and how he plays the game, mentally and cerebrally,” Hawks power forward John Collins said. “But it’s really about confidence for Kev. It’s grown.”
- The Heat will have to decide whether or not to pick up the $19.5MM team option on the contract of longtime point guard Goran Dragić for the 2021/22 season, writes Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel. Though Dragić was a key part of the team’s surprising run to the 2020 NBA Finals, he regressed during his age-34 season in 2020/21, and the Heat, led by 2020 All-Stars Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, were swept out of the first round of the 2021 playoffs. Winderman contends that declining the option could help the Heat carve out space for further roster improvements.
- It was recently revealed that Nets All-Star forward Kevin Durant intends to suit up for Team USA during the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Though that choice may appear strange, given the fact that health problems have limited Durant to appearing in just 35 of a possible 144 regular season games during his first two seasons with Brooklyn, Ian O’Connor of the New York Post posits that Durant’s clear hunger for a third Olympic gold medal should encourage Nets fans that he continues to pine for more championship hardware.
I personally love the final four teams in the NBA, but you have to wonder if NBA execs are thrilled with having three small markets and LA’s “other team” as the last four teams. Ratings are probably going to be absymal without the Philly and New York markets present. Then again, it probably could have been even worse if the Clippers hadn’t upset Utah.
They aren’t small market other than Milwaukee.
LA-2nd largest US TV market
Atlanta-7th
Phoenix-11th
Milwaukee-37th
It might even garner more interest now that these markets who aren’t used to being this far in the playoffs are here now. You could be right, but I have a feeling the NBA ratings will be fine, maybe even better imo.
Could the Hawks draw widely dispersed Southerners as the “hub” of the south? Could the Bucks draw Chicagoans or Clippers draw San Diegoans or even Angelinos…
Atlanta is the #10 media market.
When there are only 4 teams remaining, #10 is a relatively small market.
Could they? Possibly. Will they? Highly doubtful. The South is college football land with the occasional pocket of “Tobacco Road” or “Big Blue Nation” basketball fans. The Hawks haven’t really been relevant to us since Dominique Wilkins left. I doubt a single year in the playoffs will change things. Maybe if the Hawks go on an extended several year run or win the championship this year, people will take notice, but I doubt it will be this season.
I never called LA a small market, I said 3 small markets AND LA’s #2 team.
Small market is not necessarily tied to population. For me, it ties directly to the way teams spend money and a team’s influence outside their home market. Atlanta and Phoenix might be in bigger TV markets, but neither the Suns nor the Hawks have ever spent like big market teams. And neither have a big fanbase outside their home market. The Lakers, Knicks, Celtics, Sixers, and others have the big home markets, but they also have a pretty big fan base outside their home market. Go to Nebraska and count how many Hawks jerseys you see on kids. Then count how many Lakers jerseys you see. That was my point.
Could it change? Absolutely. Is it likely to change? Probably not. This is far more likely to be an outlier year than the start of a new trend.
Maybe small market isn’t the best catch all term, but they are definitely not big markets.
I think what you are referring to is how much effort ownership puts into marketing their teams. Based on your criteria, the Bucks are a big market team. Atlanta is moving up there pretty fast. The Association would really be happy if New Orleans and Dallas were in the Finals.
The small market teams are Memphis, New Orleans, OKC, Utah, San Antonio, Indiana, Charlotte, Portland, and Sacramento. Plus Milwaukee.
What do you consider small market? Salt Lake, Indianapolis, San Antonio, Charlotte, Portland, Sacramento are all top #30 media markets. Sacramento and San Francisco pretty much blend into each other. So, it really is a much bigger market.
Those are the 10 teams from the smallest TV markets in the NBA, so relative to the other 20 teams they are small-market teams.
Ad revenue isn’t based on relativity.
When there are only 30 teams, big is a subjective term. I definitely wouldn’t consider top 30 to be “big” when there are only 30 teams.
Many people labeled DG a bust after one season, but this shows why you have to be patient and give these young guys time to learn how to play in the league.
But it is clear now that Garland is going to be a (very?) good NBA player. 21 y/o and already 18th in the league in assists per game. The only serious questions about him right now right now are defense and health.
That’s why I get annoyed by people that are so dismissive of Wiseman. He hasn’t played many games the past 1.5 years. Now, he knows what he needs to work on going into his second season. I’m sure you can go through most sports and find HoFers that struggled there 1st couple of seasons.
Exactly. And Wiseman had to deal with the fact that he was drafted in the high lottery to a win-now team. They aren’t going to go out of their way to develop their young core by letting then play through mistakes. I honestly hope that Minnesota gets to keep their pick, cause otherwise the same thing might happen to GSW’s new potential draft pick.
Hawks 3 injury players
Hunter 4th pick overall
Kris Dunn 7th pick
Cam Reddish 8th pick
Oh well they had a logjam anyway.
Hawks jump from 27th best team last year to conference finals
This mean Sexton is gone. Hard to understand the Cavs sometimes. With the moves they make. Don’t get why Love is still on this team. One plus is this draft could be a good one for them. Best thing can happen is Jalen Green. If Kuminga is there at 5. Do you draft him or trade him. They have Okoro still very young. I would love to have either one on Knicks. Could be something here ??
Lol so since DG is good, Sexton is gone? They are two different and compatible players. One can shoot and pass, and the other can score with the best of them. The only reason they aren’t is because of defense. And the Cavs started the season 10-11 with them and everyone on the team healthy. The only reason he is in trade rumors is because he might ask for more money than the Cavs want to give.
What is hard to understand? They drafted better than most teams the past few years. Sexton was a good pick (even if they passed on SGA and MPJ), and Garland was a great pick too (best player left in the lottery at that point). Okoro might not show it stat-wise yet, but he has incredible potential. Regarding Love, they signed him with the intentions he would be healthy and continue to play well and he didn’t. It happens, and now his contract is untradeable. He is also a great teammate. Don’t let the news stories of his tantrums fool you. Every game he shows why he is a leader on this team. Why release him for nothing if you still have to pay him and can help the youth grow while he is still here?
And no, Jalen Green is not the best thing that can happen for the Cavs.
Cade Mobley? #1-2 lol
I am preparing for Barnes like I prepared for Okono last year… grudgingly. Okono was to shake up the team last year with defense, but with Barnes, it is offensive flow. Niether may be a shooter or ready quickly.
Mitchell is my value lottery-pick but he is not tall.
You can read Al for a Knick viewpoint.
I don’t understand why Sexton appears in so many speculative trade rumors by outside the market media? If the Cavs could afford and felt safe giving an oft injured Love then they should feel safer giving Sexton an extension even if it’s a slight overpay. He’s not a point guard but he’s become a very efficient scorer. His PPG, FG% and APG have increased every year and while his 3pt% has declined he was still a solid 37% last year. Having multiple young budding stars is a GOOD thing. I don’t trust the front office to trade him for equal or better talent. Extend him and move Love or buy him out of need be. It’s too difficult to attract talent to Cleveland and he’s “easy buckets” and fun to watch. I think his defense seemed better when he had Drummond protecting the rim. He has room to improve on, especially his defensive intellect, but you don’t shy away from 24 pts on 47/38/81.
Speculative media is just trying to justify its existence by throwing out as many names as possible.
IDK about specific rumors… HR anyway has not covered very much for him, and I don’t read much else unless linked. There is talk he could be had, but there’s no way the Cavs get value for him. It is hard to integrate a small shooting guard. He is always healthy & fast, so would be wasted as a 3rd guard oh well.