Community Shootaround

Entering the New Year, there’s a clear separation between the haves and have-nots in the Western Conference. Six teams have 22 or more wins while eight teams are at least six games under the .500 mark.

Regardless of that disparity, eight teams have to make the playoffs and the last two spots are up for grabs. The surprising Thunder currently hold the No. 7 spot with an 20-15 record. However, this was supposed to be a rebuilding season after they traded stars Russell Westbrook and Paul George. It’s fair to wonder if they can sustain their success with a guard-oriented offense and a prime trade candidate in wing Danilo Gallinari, who has an expiring contract.

Outside of the Warriors, any of the West teams with losing records could make a playoff push. The Spurs, who have the eighth-best record at the moment despite their 14-20 record, can rely on the veteran duo of LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan and the coaching wizardry of Gregg Popovich.

The Trail Blazers’ season has been a head-scratcher but they were only a half-game behind San Antonio entering Monday’s action.  They’re due for a hot streak as long as Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum stay healthy.

Suns center Deandre Ayton has finished out his suspension and they have a formidable backcourt duo in Ricky Rubio and Devin Booker. It seemed unrealistic to think the young Grizzlies can finish in the top eight but they have caught fire during their current trip and they do possess the likely Rookie of the Year in Ja Morant.

The Pelicans are starting to heat up after a woeful start and Zion Williamson is expected to debut this month. The Timberwolves need to get Karl-Anthony Towns healthy and focused but he’s capable of leading a turnaround. The Kings have been a huge disappointment but there’s too much talent on their roster to count them out, especially with De’Aaron Fox back in action.

That leads us to our question of the day: Which teams will claim the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference? 

Please take to the comments section to weigh in on this topic. We look forward to your input.

We’re on the verge of flipping the calendar to 2020, but before we close the book on 2019, we want to take a look back at The Year That Was in the NBA.

The league crowned a new champion in 2019, as the Raptors won their first title in their 24th year of existence. Toronto made a memorable run to that championship, knocking out the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals with one of the most improbable buzzer-beaters in playoff history, then coming back from a 2-0 deficit in the Conference Finals vs. the Bucks before knocking off the defending-champion Warriors in the Finals.

Of course, the Warriors weren’t at full strength in those Finals. The respective Achilles and ACL tears suffered by Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson in that series not only paved the way for a Raptors’ victory — they also essentially ended Golden State’s dynasty. Six months later, Durant, Andre Iguodala, and Shaun Livingston are gone, Thompson and Stephen Curry are injured, and the Warriors are in the Western Conference basement.

While things took a turn for the Warriors this summer, it’s not as if their Finals opponents had a perfect offseason either. Kawhi Leonard became the first reigning NBA Finals MVP to leave his team in free agency, returning home to Los Angeles, where he and Paul George joined forces of members of the Clippers.

Leonard’s shocking free agent decision and the out-of-nowhere trade that sent George from the Thunder to the Clippers were among the highlights of one of the NBA’s most eventful offseasons ever. The summer also included Kyrie Irving and Durant teaming up for the Nets, as well as blockbuster trades sending Russell Westbrook to the Rockets and Anthony Davis to the Lakers. The AD trade was the culmination of a saga that began when Davis asked the Pelicans to trade him in January.

Although Davis eventually made his way to the Lakers, it happened after Magic Johnson had abruptly resigned from his position as the team’s president of basketball operations in the year’s most jarring impromptu press conferences. Not to be outdone, the Knicks held a surprise presser of their own several months later to announce, just 10 games into the 2019/20 season, that they weren’t happy with their team’s play. That James Dolan-mandated session may have been the beginning of the end for David Fizdale‘s tenure in New York.

A pair of the year’s biggest basketball stories originated in Asia. USA Basketball’s lengthy international winning streak was snapped at the 2019 World Cup in China, where Team USA had a disappointing showing and didn’t even make the medal round. Weeks later, Rockets GM Daryl Morey issued a brief tweet in support of Hong Kong protestors that kicked off an international firestorm between the NBA and China. That controversy has yet to be fully resolved and may have an impact on the league’s salary cap going forward.

While those were some of the top basketball stories of 2019, there are plenty of others worth mentioning. The league lost a pair of legends this spring when Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki officially retired. However, their longtime teams – the Heat and Mavericks – have been two of the NBA’s most pleasant surprises so far in 2019/20, led by Jimmy Butler and rising star Luka Doncic, whose emergence has been another one of the best stories of the year.

Giannis Antetokounmpo‘s ascension and his MVP battle with James Harden has been an ongoing source of entertainment. The Celtics‘ disappointing and drama-filled 2018/19 showing was a source of fascination. And the NBA’s desire to make major changes to its schedule has been a source of debate among fans.

With the year about to come to a close, we want to hear about your favorite NBA stories of the last 12 months. What will you remember most about the NBA in 2019 when you look back on it years from now?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

We’re just two days away from turning our calendars to 2020, which means the topic of the NBA’s All-Decade Team for the 2010s has been a popular one as of late.

Picking three All-NBA Teams for a full decade is even more complicated than selecting them for a single season. Longevity comes into play — if a player was only active for half the decade, but excelled during those five years, does that outweigh a solid 10-year run by another player? And how should consistent statistical stardom over a 10-year stretch by a player who didn’t win a title compare to someone who won three championships but didn’t necessarily post incredible numbers?

Among those who have shared their All-Decade Teams is Ben Rohrbach of Yahoo Sports, whose picks followed the usual All-NBA format — Rohrbach selected three teams comprised of two guards, two forwards, and one center each.

The First Team is made up of the usual suspects. LeBron James and Stephen Curry lead the way, with Kevin Durant and James Harden joining them in the frontcourt and backcourt respectively. Those four players combined to win seven of 10 MVP awards since 2010, and six of the 10 champions this decade featured at least one of those four stars. James, Durant, and Harden are also the NBA’s three leading scorers over the last 10 years, while no player has a higher win-share rate than Curry since the start of the 2013/14 season.

No centers have dominated the decade from start to finish, so Rohrbach filled out his First Team with Anthony Davis, who may be the NBA’s best center right now, even if he prefers to play the four.

Rohrbach’s Second Team picks are guards Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul, forwards Kawhi Leonard and Giannis Antetokounmpo, and center Dwight Howard, who was a perennial All-Star for the first half of the decade.

Rohrbach’s Third Team features a few more players whose best years of the decade came in the first half of the 2010s, with guards Dwyane Wade and Kobe Bryant making the cut, along with center Tim Duncan. Forwards Paul George and Draymond Green fill out the Third Team.

While Rohrbach’s 15 selections are certainly worthy of recognition, a handful of noteworthy stars didn’t make the cut. Forwards Carmelo Anthony, Blake Griffin, and LaMarcus Aldridge, who combined for 16 All-NBA nods in the 2010s, only earn honorable mention, as do guards Jimmy Butler, Damian Lillard, Klay Thompson, and Kyrie Irving, and centers DeMarcus Cousins, Marc Gasol, Pau Gasol, and Joel Embiid. Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Chris Bosh, and Rudy Gobert were also considered.

I would’ve given Kyle Lowry serious consideration for a backcourt spot on the Third Team, so I’m surprised he didn’t even show up in Rohrbach’s honorable mentions, but otherwise I can’t quibble with too many of his picks.

We want to know what you think though. Are there any glaring omissions you’d like to see on the list? Do you think any players on Rohrbach’s Second or Third Teams should be bumped higher, or eliminated from the top 15 altogether?

To help refresh your memory on the full decade, here’s a list of every player who has earned multiple All-Star nods since 2010, sorted by win shares per 48 minutes, via Basketball-Reference.

Let us know in the comment section below who you think belongs on the NBA’s All-Decade Teams for the 2010s!

As Arthur Hill noted in our Christmas Eve Community Shootaround, injuries have put a dent in the NBA’s Christmas Day schedule. The absences of players like Warriors guard Stephen Curry, Pelicans rookie Zion Williamson, and Raptors forward Pascal Siakam will reduce the star power in their respective matchups.

The idea of a flexible schedule put forth by Dwyane Wade and relayed in last night’s post by Arthur would be a tricky idea to implement, but there’s nothing stopping from us from imagining what our perfect Christmas Day slate would be.

We want your input on what today’s ideal NBA schedule would look like, based on current records and rosters.

Would you keep marquee games like Lakers/Clippers and Bucks/Sixers on the calendar? Would you still have five games on your schedule? Would you reduce or increase that number? Would your perfect schedule primarily involve the NBA’s best teams, or are there some under-the-radar clubs or players you’d like to see get the spotlight?

Here’s what my ideal schedule would look like:

1. Raptors vs. Heat: Banged up or not, the defending champions deserve a Christmas Day showcase. Toronto and Miami are two of the best “effort” teams in the league and are good candidates to avoid a sluggish early-afternoon start.
2. Celtics vs. Sixers: These two teams are on pace to win 60 and 56 games, respectively, and are relatively healthy, so it makes sense to keep them on the schedule. Matching them up against one another will give us a good rivalry game for the afternoon.
3. Bucks vs. Mavericks: Assuming Luka Doncic is able to return, this game pits the reigning MVP against another rising star who should compete for the award for the foreseeable future. It would also be a matchup of the NBA’s best offense (Dallas) vs. the league’s best defense (Milwaukee).
4. Lakers vs. Clippers: There’s no reason to remove this one from the schedule — especially with Anthony Davis and LeBron James expected to return from minor injuries.
5. Rockets vs. Nuggets: Rather than pitting these two teams – who own the NBA’s longest active win streaks – against lottery-bound clubs, let’s have them face one another to close out the day.

Let’s hear your thoughts! Head to the comment section below and let us know what your hand-picked Christmas Day schedule would look like.