Community Shootaround

Community Shootaround: Will The Grizzlies Make The Playoffs?

February 16th, 2020 at 4:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Led by stellar seasons from Rookie of the Year frontrunner Ja Morant and second-year big man Jaren Jackson Jr., the 28-26 Grizzlies have a solid lead in the race for the West’s No. 8 seed in the 2020 playoffs.

Burly veteran center Jonas Valančiūnas has proved to be a perfect frontcourt complement to Jackson. Young players like rookie power forward Brandon Clarke, third-year wing Dillon Brooks and second-year point guard De’Anthony Melton have all shown promise too.

Unfortunately, the Grizzlies will also be up against the NBA’s toughest post-All Star break schedule, per Tankathon, as they wrap up what has to this point been an exciting season. Schedule strength is determined by combining the winning percentage for all of a team’s upcoming opponents.

Among Memphis’ most intimidating future combatants down the home stretch are the 46-8 Bucks, the 41-12 Lakers (twice), the 40-15 Raptors (twice), and the 38-16 Celtics.

The No. 11-seeded Pelicans, with a 23-32 record, have the easiest schedule remaining in the league. The No. 9-seeded Trail Blazers (25-31) have the sixth-hardest road ahead. The No. 10-seeded Spurs (23-31) boast the 11th-easiest schedule. Memphis is currently in the No. 8 seed, but maybe these more favorable schedules (and the health of a certain rookie in New Orleans) will give one of the teams breathing down the Grizzlies’ necks an opportunity to snatch the seed.

We want to hear what you think. Can the new-look Grizzlies continue their recent string of success and hold off the Blazers, Spurs and Pelicans to secure a 2020 playoff berth? Or will one of these other teams make a playoff push of their own?

Weigh in with your thoughts below!

Community Shootaround: Was Aaron Gordon Robbed?

February 15th, 2020 at 10:07pm CST by Arthur Hill

After receiving 50s on his first five dunks, Orlando’s Aaron Gordon got a 47 from the judges on his final attempt and settled for second place in a controversial finish to this year’s dunk contest. The score came on a dunk where he leaped over 7’5″ Celtics rookie Tacko Fall, and the result was reminiscent of the 2016 dunk contest where Gordon finished second to Zach LaVine.

Gordon thrilled the crowd with a series of memorable slams, but still finished behind Miami’s Derrick Jones Jr., who put on a show of his own. It’s being hailed as of the greatest dunk showdowns in the history of the contest, but it will likely be remembered for its unpopular finish.

TNT announcers Kenny Smith and Reggie Miller both criticized the judging when the final score was revealed, and a host of NBA reporters followed suit on Twitter.

“Call the cops! Aaron Gordon just got robbed! When you dunk over Tacko Fall that’s a 50!” tweeted Michael Scotto of Bleacher Report.

“Aaron Gordon has jumped over Stuff the Magic Dragon and Tacko Fall and he’s somehow 0 for 2,” added Brian Mahoney of the Associated Press. “Nobody has ever done more and gotten less.” (Twitter link)

The world record in the high jump is 7 ft 11.67 inches,” noted former NBA executive John Hollinger, who now writes for the Athletic. “Gordon jumped over a guy who is 7-6 in shoes, grabbed a basketball and dunked it.” (Twitter link)

Gordon was among those unhappy with the judging, telling reporters, including Fred Katz of The Athletic, “Jumping over someone who’s 7’5″, that’s no easy feat. … What’d I get? 47? C’mon, man. What’re we doing? … I don’t even know who gave me the 9s. I’m gonna find them.” (Twitter links)

Gordon also said he’s through with the dunk contest and may try the 3-point competition in the future. “It’s a wrap,” he said. “I feel like I should have two trophies. So it’s over for that.” (Twitter link)

We want to get your feedback. Did Gordon deserve to win? Should the judges have declared the contest a tie in recognition of the great dunks from both Gordon and Jones that sent the contest into overtime? Please leave your feedback in the space below.

Community Shootaround: Timberwolves’ Long-Term Outlook

February 14th, 2020 at 11:14pm CST by ChrisCrouse

The Timberwolves made a bevy of deals prior to the trade deadline, bringing in seven new players. The team is in a grand rebuild and every move is calculated, as Britt Robson of The Athletic writes.

“’Why didn’t we make trades for other positions?’ Because we wanted these guys,” President of basketball operations Gersson Rosas said.. “We had to make sure we made the right decisions.”

The team’s biggest acquisition was D’Angelo Russell. The Wolves didn’t sign a point guard in free agency because they had their eyes set on Russell. Rosas had been pursuing the former No. 2 overall pick to be the court partner to Karl-Anthony Towns essentially since he came on board.

The former Rockets executive now has ownership of the existing roster, similar to how Tom Thibodeau went all-in on the TimberBulls. Will it work long-term?

Do you believe the core Minnesota has assembled will reach great heights? Or will they, like past Timberwolves teams, fail to make any major noise?

Let us know in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

Community Shootaround: Joel Embiid

February 11th, 2020 at 7:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Last spring, the Sixers took the eventual champion Raptors to the limit in a seven-game playoff series. This season, their star center Joel Embiid seems more interested in testing the limits of everyone’s patience.

Philadelphia has the league’s best home record but overall it has been a disappointment. The Sixers are just 9-19 on the road and Embiid’s effort and focus has been the subject of scrutiny.

Embiid seemingly made a vulgar comment directed toward the home fans on Sunday and heard many boos during pregame introductions on Tuesday.

Embiid denied that he criticized the home fans but then continued to stir the pot on social media. He even insinuated in an Instagram exchange with former teammate and Heat swingman Jimmy Butler that he’d rather be in Miami.

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst indicated on a podcast that rival executives have started to openly wonder whether the Sixers would consider moving Embiid if the team has an abbreviated postseason run.

It’s hard to imagine that the Sixers would give up on Embiid despite his injury history and penchant for stirring controversy. His stats have dropped off this year but he’s still on the short list of the league’s best big men. At 25, Embiid is just entering his prime, as long as health issues don’t sidetrack his career.

Embiid is signed through the 2022/23 season and there figures to be plenty of interest around the league if Philadelphia’s front office grows weary of his act and looks to shake things up.

That brings us to our question of the day: If the Sixers getting knocked out early in this year’s playoffs, should they consider trading center Joel Embiid?

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

Community Shootaround: Winners At The Trade Deadline

February 6th, 2020 at 10:15pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Although the NBA trade deadline was expected to be a quiet one, it was anything but that, with several mega-deals coming in before Thursday’s deadline.

The Timberwolves got their point guard in D’Angelo Russell, pairing him with his friend Karl-Anthony Towns. The front office believes in the duo as its pair of franchise players and the price tag for the former No. 2 overall pick ended up being reasonable, as the Wolves handed the Warriors their 2021 first-round pick (top-3 protected), a 2021 second-rounder, and Andrew Wiggins.

The Rockets made their trade a couple of days before the deadline, landing Robert Covington. The team gave up Clint Capela and a first-rounder in the deal. Houston intends to play a version of small-ball for the remainder of the season.

The Hawks benefited from Houston’s newfound strategy, as they were able to pluck Capela off the Rockets, as part of the four-team, 12-player trade. It cost Atlanta the first-rounder the team had on hand from the Nets, as well as Evan Turner‘s expiring contract. The Hawks also brought back Dewayne Dedmon and cashed in on their open roster spots, collecting roughly $3.2M in trades with the Clippers and Blazers.

The Cavaliers made perhaps the most surprising deal of the day, acquiring Andre Drummond. They didn’t necessarily need another frontcourt player, with Kevin Love, Tristan Thompson, and Larry Nance Jr. crowding the paint. However, the price was modest, as it only cost them a pair of expiring deals (Brandon Knight, John Henson) and a second-round pick.

The Knicks made a trade, sending Marcus Morris to the Clippers for Maurice Harkless, a 2020 first-round pick, a 2021 pick swap with L.A., and a future second-rounder. Not a bad haul for New York, considering Morris didn’t really fit with the timeline for the franchise’s young core. The Knicks essentially used their cap space this past summer to pick up draft capital. Still, it’s a win for New York in a week where the organization could probably use one.

Do you think the Knicks or any of the aforementioned teams are the biggest winners today? If not, which team had the best trade deadline?

Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

Community Shootaround: Western All-Star Reserves

January 30th, 2020 at 10:53am CST by Luke Adams

There was little pushback on the All-Star starter selections from the Western Conference when the NBA announced them last week, and for good reason. All five players voted in as starters from the West – Luka Doncic, James Harden, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kawhi Leonard – could end up being viable MVP candidates this season.

However, it may be a little more challenging to pick the seven Western players who will join those starters at this year’s All-Star Game. Those seven reserves will be announced on Thursday night, with two more guards, three more frontcourt players, and a pair of wild cards filling out the roster.

Before those players are announced, we want to get your thoughts on which players deserve to be included and which players don’t quite make the cut, as we did with the Eastern Conference on Wednesday.

Let’s start in the middle, where a pair of Northwest centers look like strong candidates to be named All-Stars. Nikola Jokic (Nuggets) had a case to be considered as a starter, while Rudy Gobert (Jazz) looks poised to finally earn the first All-Star nod of his career.

Gobert’s teammate Donovan Mitchell has had the best year of his young career and deserves serious All-Star consideration. He’ll face stiff competition among guards though. Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers) looks like a lock to make it, and Devin Booker (Suns), Chris Paul (Thunder), Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder), Russell Westbrook (Rockets), DeMar DeRozan (Spurs), and Ja Morant (Grizzlies) are among the other backcourt candidates.

Although they’re long shots, guards like Lou Williams (Clippers), CJ McCollum (Trail Blazers), Jrue Holiday (Pelicans), and De’Aaron Fox (Kings) probably deserve a look too.

While Holiday entered the season looking like the most obvious All-Star candidate on the Pelicans’ roster, Brandon Ingram has emerged as that player instead, enjoying a breakout season in his first year in New Orleans. Danilo Gallinari (Thunder), Bojan Bogdanovic (Jazz), and Kristaps Porzingis (Mavericks) are among the other players who are posting at least borderline All-Star numbers in their first year with a new team.

Injuries will likely have an impact on the Western All-Star selections for 2019/20. If they’d been healthy all season long, Paul George (Clippers) and Karl-Anthony Towns (Timberwolves) would have strong cases, but they’ve only played in 26 and 30 games, respectively — we’ll see if that’s enough. While he’s not quite the star that George and KAT are, D’Angelo Russell (Warriors) is in this boat too. Like Towns, he’s had a good year, but has been limited to just 30 games and plays on one of the conference’s worst teams.

Finally, while I view them as long shots, Montrezl Harrell (Clippers), Jaren Jackson (Grizzlies), and LaMarcus Aldridge (Spurs) have had very good years and deserve at least a passing mention in this discussion.

What do you think? Which seven players are you picking as your Western Conference All-Star reserves?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Eastern All-Star Reserves

January 29th, 2020 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA announced last week that Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, Pascal Siakam, Kemba Walker, and Trae Young will be the five All-Star starters from the Eastern Conference this season, as selected by fans, players, and the media. That leaves seven reserve spots to fill — two more guards, three more frontcourt players, and a pair of wild cards.

Those seven Eastern All-Stars will be announced on Thursday, but before they are, we want to get your thoughts on which players deserve to be included and which players don’t quite make the cut.

Of the five starters, all but Young are from one of the Eastern Conference’s top six teams, and you could actually make a reasonable case that the seven reserves should all be from those clubs too.

Khris Middleton is a strong candidate for the Bucks, with teammate Eric Bledsoe worthy of consideration as well. Heat swingman Jimmy Butler was on a number of ballots for the starting five and looks like a lock to be among the reserves.

Big men Bam Adebayo (Heat) and Domantas Sabonis (Pacers) have enjoyed breakout seasons, playing key roles on both ends of the court for their respective teams. Sabonis’ teammate Malcolm Brogdon has also built an All-Star case, though his numbers have slipped a little as of late and he has missed some time. Even T.J. Warren deserves a look.

Elsewhere among the conference’s top six clubs, guards Kyle Lowry (Raptors) and Ben Simmons (Sixers) have been crucial to their teams’ success, with Fred VanVleet and Tobias Harris making borderline cases for consideration too. The Celtics have a pair of young wings – Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown – who are candidates to join Walker in the All-Star Game.

If you’re not inclined to give an edge to players from those top Eastern teams, all of whom have at least a 9.5-game cushion on the seventh-best team in the conference, there are a handful of solid candidates in the lottery too. Bradley Beal is putting up huge numbers for the Wizards, while Zach LaVine continues to increase his scoring average for the Bulls.

Derrick Rose and Andre Drummond have had strong seasons and have helped the Pistons remain in the hunt for a playoff spot despite the roster being hit hard by injuries. Devonte’ Graham has had a breakout year for the Hornets, while Marcus Morris has been one of the few bright spots for the Knicks.

Finally, the current seventh and eight seeds in the East don’t have any All-Star locks, since Nets star Kyrie Irving has only played in 17 games. But his backcourt mate Spencer Dinwiddie has earned at least a look, as have the Magic‘s top two scorers, Nikola Vucevic and Evan Fournier.

What do you think? Which seven Eastern Conference players would you take to fill out 2020’s East All-Stars?

Head to the comment section below to share your picks!

Community Shootaround: Honoring Kobe Bryant

January 28th, 2020 at 12:25pm CST by Luke Adams

A Change.org petition asking the NBA to make Kobe Bryant the league’s new logo has surpassed two million signatures, and that idea has some support among players too. Hornets center Bismack Biyombo, the vice president of the National Basketball Players Association, tells Roderick Boone of The Athletic that he’d be on board with the idea of having Bryant’s silhouette replace Jerry West‘s on the league’s logo.

“We are hoping,” Biyombo said. “The NBA is going to do something. As a player, I think you want to see that. You just want to see that because of what the guy has meant to the game, to be honest. For me, I think as a player, I would really like to embrace that because you’ve seen the change, and you’ve seen it over the course of the years. Kobe, he wants to teach. As we see now, he opened the academy, and everybody was going to his academy, and the guy was present there early in the morning early to teach. There’s not many people who are doing that.

“(Making him the logo), it’s an appreciation of what the guy has done for the game of basketball, and that’s what I think we all should be thinking about.”

Biyombo is right that the NBA will certainly find a way to honor the memory of Bryant, who died on Sunday in a tragic helicopter crash near Los Angeles. However, the idea of changing the NBA’s logo isn’t the only one that has been floated this week.

ESPN’s Mike Greenberg (video link) suggested on Get Up this morning that the NBA should name an award after Bryant, in the same way that Bill Russell is the namesake for the league’s NBA Finals MVP award. Pointing to Bryant’s longtime presence and popularity in Europe and Asia, Greenberg proposed that the award named after Kobe could be given annually to the player who does the most to grow the game internationally.

Other suggestions for ways to honor Bryant have involved his jersey numbers. Chris Mannix of SI.com (Twitter link) wondered if the NBA might have this year’s two All-Star teams wear No. 8 (for Team LeBron) and No. 24 (for Team Giannis) uniforms.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced this week that his team will retire No. 24 in honor of Bryant. There has been speculation that other teams could follow suit. The Lakers, of course, have already retired both No. 8 and No. 24.

We want to know what you think. What would be an appropriate tribute by the NBA to honor Bryant’s memory?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts.

Community Shootaround: Mavs’ Trade Options

January 22nd, 2020 at 10:44pm CST by Dana Gauruder

With Dwight Powell out for the season due to an Achilles injury, there’s plenty of media speculation regarding what Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and the team’s front office will do before the trade deadline.

Beyond Kristaps Porzingis Maxi Kleber, and Boban Marjanovic, the Mavs don’t have a lot of options up front. Porzingis has been dealing with right knee soreness and Dallas surely doesn’t want him to log heavy minutes on his surgically repaired knee.

If the Mavs want to get another big on the trade market, they have a couple of major assets. They possess a giant $11.8MM trade exception and Courtney Lee‘s $12.76MM expiring contract.

Among the names tossed about as potential trade targets including Detroit’s Andre Drummond, Sacramento’s Nemanja Bjelica, Cleveland’s Tristan Thompson and Kevin Love, San Antonio’s Jakob Poeltl, Washington’s Ian Mahinmi, Minnesota’s Gorgui Dieng and Golden State’s Willie Cauley-Stein.

ESPN reported that the team is kicking the tires on veteran free agent center Joakim Noah. In-house options include Dorian Finney-Smith, Isaiah Roby and Justin Jackson, all of whom could see more action at power forward with Porzingis sliding to center. However, it seems likely the Mavs will make some type of move to fortify their suddenly depleted frontcourt.

That brings us to our question of the day: Should the Mavs make a major trade with Dwight Powell out for the season or should seek other avenues to beef up their frontcourt?

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

Community Shootaround: Derrick Rose

January 20th, 2020 at 10:45pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Derrick Rose is suddenly a hot commodity again. A Yahoo Sports report on Monday indicated that the Lakers, Sixers and several other playoff contenders were interested in dealing for Rose, who is enjoying a career rebirth after nearly retiring a couple of years ago due to knee pain.

Rose had a bounce-back season in Minnesota last year, averaging 18 points in 51 games before his season was cut short by another injury. But he didn’t attract a lot of attention in the free agent market before signing a two-year, $15MM contract with the Pistons.

While the Pistons have floundered due to injuries, particularly to star forward Blake Griffin, Rose has been an offensive juggernaut. He’s averaging 18.3 PPG in 25.8 MPG and shooting a career-high 50.2%. At an age where most guards have lost a step, Rose has seemingly found the fountain of youth. He’s consistent breaking down defenses with quickness and guile and finishing at the rim.

He’d certainly help nearly any of the contenders, either as a starting guard or sixth man, a role he filled with the Pistons until he was inserted into the lineup three games ago. The Lakers have plenty of point guards on the roster but Rose would be an upgrade over any of them. He’d give the Sixers a change of pace option to take pressure off Ben Simmons and dramatically improve their bench.

The Clippers reportedly have only mild interest in Rose, perhaps because they gave up so many assets to secure Paul George‘s services. The Nuggets haven’t publicly been named as a suitor but he could be the piece that puts them on par with the Los Angeles teams. And he’d make marginal contenders like the Heat and Mavericks a lot more dangerous in the postseason.

The Pistons could just hold onto Rose, who has stated he’s happy where he is, and hope for better results next season if Griffin comes back healthy. But it’s more likely they’ll try to cash in and get a future asset or two while Rose is in a groove.

That leads us to our question of the day: If Derrick Rose is traded, where do you think he’ll wind up?

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

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