Community Shootaround

Jimmy Butler‘s stay in Philadelphia isn’t guaranteed to last beyond this spring, as he’s widely expected to opt out of the $19.8MM final year of his deal. Negotiations will likely hinge on how far the Sixers get in the postseason, a challenge he is embracing.

“I’m ready,” Butler recently said (via Michael Lee of The Athletic). “I feel great. I’m in a great place right now. We’re headed into the playoffs with a smooth little momentum and a rhythm. I just want the group of guys that we have to know that I’m here, man. I’m here to battle and I’m here to fight, no matter what. That’s what they got me in Philly for.”

Butler will search for a max contract in the offseason. He may or may not get that offer from the Sixers, with the team having to work on new deals for fellow free agents Tobias Harris and J.J. Redick as well. It was previously reported that a scenario where Butler returns to the team but Harris does not is unlikely. If Philadelphia has to make a choice between the two newcomers for fear of luxury tax concerns, it appears Harris is the favorite child.

Butler will have other suitors and the Lakers could be a destination to watch out for, as Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report contends. Los Angeles was one of several teams to reach out to the Timberwolves about trading for Butler prior to the Sixers making the deal for him.

Magic Johnson & Co. will likely only have the cap space to sign one maximum salary free agent with the team shelling out nearly $37.5MM for LeBron James‘ max deal while also paying nearly $16MM combined for Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball (L.A. is also on the hook for $5MM as a result of stretching Luol Deng‘s contract).

The Lakers’ path to providing LBJ with two co-stars would likely involve signing a player and then trading their remaining players for another one. Butler could be an easier target to land than Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving due to lessened demand. Butler’s perceived baggage may dissuade organizations from considering him an addition.

Butler recently had a chance to further explain his Wolves’ trade demands on Saturday when the Sixers visited his old team He decided to tell the media that it was “none of their business.”

“You don’t know what’s going on unless you’re in there every day,” Butler said on Saturday. “You’re just taking bits and pieces and trying to fill in the gaps that you don’t know. So, now you’ve got to guess. I let people think what they want to think, I really do. It don’t faze me. I don’t read into the media, because nobody knows.”

While Butler’s candidness can be off-putting, he isn’t wrong. At times, the media gets just a snapshot of the inner workings of the team. Reporters may be able to sense when something has gone astray, but they don’t always have the whole picture. How one human acts in a moment shouldn’t necessarily be extrapolated as a final conclusion on his personality.

“I don’t even want to put all his business out there, with all the stuff he [does], even with people in the front office, that sells tickets.,” teammate Amir Johnson said. “He does stuff for them that you don’t even hear about. He has conversations with them people. Not only does it help people do their job better but it just brings an organization and a team closer when you see stuff like that. It makes you feel like everybody is more involved when you help out the ticket girl that hands out tickets at the arena. It’s dope when you do that.

“He’s a good person. Just an all-around good dude.”

Butler’s exit from Minnesota became circus-like and his time in Philadelphia has been awkward and rocky at times. Yet, the Sixers are embracing him as the franchise hopes to improve on their second-round ousting from last season.

The last time Philadelphia won at least two straight playoff series? Back in 2001, when an outspoken player with a disruptive reputation led the franchise to the NBA Finals.

Do you believe the Sixers will win more than two playoff series this postseason and should the team bring Butler back if they fall short of the Eastern Conference Finals? If he walks, which rival teams make the most sense for him in free agency?

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

Around the NBA, the field of legit contenders in many of this year’s award races has been narrowed to just one or two players. It’s hard to imagine anyone besides Giannis Antetokounmpo or James Harden being named Most Valuable Player. Trae Young looks like the only real threat to Luka Doncic for Rookie of the Year. And Lou Williams appears to be tightening his grip on a second consecutive Sixth Man of the Year award.

However, no clear frontrunner has emerged yet for Defensive Player of the Year. The award is typically one of the trickier ones to forecast, since voters have to rely on much different metrics and statistics than they would for most of the NBA’s other accolades. With so many different ways to measure a player’s defensive impact, it’s impossible to rely on a single stat, and it’s rare that every defensive metric will point to a single candidate.

For instance, Rudy Gobert – last season’s Defensive Player of the Year – figures to be a popular choice again this time around. In terms of defensive real plus-minus, he easily ranks first among players who have averaged at least 20 minutes per game. He’s also tied for fourth in total defensive win shares. However, his on/off-court numbers suggest that the Jazz have actually been a slightly better defensive team when Gobert isn’t on the court — their 103.1 defensive rating when he sits edges out their 103.5 rating when he plays.

Joel Embiid, on the other hand, ranks far down the list in DRPM, but has more defensive win shares per game than Gobert, and the Sixers have a noticeably better defensive rating when he plays (103.1) than when he doesn’t (107.7).

Antetokounmpo, who ranks first in the NBA in defensive win shares, isn’t necessarily the same sort of rim-protecting anchor that Gobert and Embiid are, but he can play that role if needed, in addition to chasing more active players around the perimeter.

Marcus Smart and Paul George are two of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, and you could make an argument in favor of either player this season. George’s case is particularly compelling, given the quality of the players he has matched up against, and his impact on the Thunder‘s defensive net rating (102.8 when he plays vs. 107.4 when he doesn’t).

This list of players – and statistics – is just a start, as there are several other candidates who deserve consideration for 2018/19’s Defensive Player of the Year award.

What do you think? Who is your pick for Defensive Player of the Year? Is there an under-the-radar contender you believe deserves the honor? Which factors do you believe should be weighed more or less heavily when making a selection?

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

The Mavericks’ Luka Doncic seemed to have the Rookie of the Year award locked up after his dazzling performances the first half of the season.

Doncic still appears to be the favorite, but a couple of players have narrowed the gap.

Doncic jumped right into Dallas’ starting lineup and has averaged an impressive 21.1 PPG , 7.4 RPG and 5.6 APG and 1.1 SPG in 62 games. The 20-year-old from Slovenia is so talented that Dennis Smith Jr. realized quickly he’d never be the primary play-maker again in the Mavs’ attack. The Mavs wound up trading the second-year guard to the Knicks as part of the blockbuster that delivered another young star, Kristaps Porzingis, to Dallas.

Doncic’s numbers have actually gone up recently, in large part because the trade left the current roster pretty barren. He averaged 24.4 PPG, 9.4 RPG and 7.4 APG in February and has posted 22.4 PPG, 8.4 RPG and 4.4 APG in five March outings.

The Hawks looked foolhardy for dealing away Doncic for point guard Trae Young and a future first-rounder on draft night last June. The deal doesn’t seem so lopsided now, as Young has come on strong in the past month-and-a-half. Over the last 22 games, Young has averaged 23.5 PPG and 9.0 APG. Young has moved up to fifth in the league in assists per game, trailing only Russell Westbrook, Kyle Lowry, LeBron James and Ben Simmons.

The splashy debuts of Doncic and Young has made it easy to forget that Deandre Ayton was considered a no-brainer choice as the top pick last summer. The Suns’ poor season has masked Ayton’s solid start in the league. He’s averaging 16.6 PPG and 10.3 RPG. Ayton hasn’t been a shotblocking force (0.9 per game) and like many young big men, tends to get into foul trouble. He’s increased his production during Phoenix’s improved play lately, averaging 18.3 PPG in six March games while committing a total of just five turnovers.

That leads us to our question of the day: Is Luka Doncic still the clear choice as Rookie of the Year? Has either Trae Young or Deandre Ayton pulled even with Doncic or even surpassed him?

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

There’s still more than a month left in the NBA’s 2018/19 regular season, but D’Angelo Russell already has a prediction for the 2019 Most Improved Player award.

“I’m gonna win that s–t,” Russell recently told Anthony Puccio of SNY.tv. “Watch. Put it on record. I’m gonna win it.”

Russell is a legit candidate for the Most Improved Player award, having emerged as perhaps the Nets‘ most valuable player this season after a so-so first year in Brooklyn. He has drastically improved his shooting efficiency and earned his first All-Star nod last month.

Still, Russell isn’t the leading candidate for the Most Improved Player award. That honor might belong to Raptors forward Pascal Siakam, who has more than doubled his scoring average and become the third-most important player on the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed.

Kings guard De’Aaron Fox is another strong contender. After an inconsistent rookie season, the 21-year-old is putting up big numbers (17.2 PPG, 7.2 APG, 1.7 SPG) for one of the league’s most surprising teams.

Domantas Sabonis and John Collins are among the other youngsters who have taken major steps forward this season, while established veterans like Paul George, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and Nikola Vucevic have taken their games to another level — George and Antetokounmpo are legit MVP candidates for the first time and Vucevic is in the All-NBA conversation. They’re just a few of the players who could have a case to be included in the MIP conversation.

Most Improved Player is one of the most difficult NBA awards to define. Should a player like Fox receive serious consideration even though second-year players (and former top-five picks) are expected to improve significantly from year one to two? Should Siakam’s contributions to one of the NBA’s top teams be weighted far more heavily than they would if he were on a lottery team, as is the case for the MVP award?

How about cases like George’s and Antetokounmpo’s? Is the leap from star to superstar more or less worthy of Most Improved Player consideration than a third- or fourth-year player making the jump from rotation player to borderline All-Star?

With no clear guidelines to follow, it’s often to left to a voter’s discretion how best to define what it means to be the NBA’s most improved player. In tonight’s Community Shootaround discussion, we want to know which factors you consider most heavily, and which player you’d pick to win in 2018/19 as a result.

What do you think? Who is your current pick for 2019’s Most Improved Player? What sort of players do you believe should receive the most serious consideration? Are there certain criteria you believe should be weighted more heavily than others?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

It’s a pretty safe bet that the Bucks, Raptors, Pacers, Sixers and Celtics will be the top five seeds in the Eastern Conference playoffs, in some order.

The fight for the last three berths has turned into a mad scramble with less than 20 games remaining in the regular season.

The Pistons appeared to be in deep trouble heading toward the All-Star break but they’ve suddenly shot up to the sixth slot by winning nine of their last 11 games. They possess one of the league’s most prolific frontcourt duos in Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond but improved point guard play and a hot streak from reserve Luke Kennard has also boosted their stock.

The Nets have hit a dry spell, losing three in a row before they crushed Dallas on Monday to pull even with Detroit. They’ll rely heavily on their backcourt and wings, particularly D’Angelo Russell, Caris LeVert and Joe Harris, in their quest to reach the playoffs for the first time since the 2014/15 season.

The Magic, Hornets and Heat are tightly bunched in the next tier. Orlando has won seven of its last 10 games, led by the frontcourt pairing of Nikola Vucevic and Aaron Gordon and top reserve Terrence Ross.

Charlotte and Miami have slumped in recent weeks but the Hornets have the best point guard among the teams angling for those last three spots in Kemba Walker. Miami’s floor leader, Goran Dragic, recently returned after undergoing knee surgery to aid its playoff push, though he’s now dealing with a calf injury. Dwyane Wade is still capable of big games and dramatic shots.

Even the Wizards, whose roster has been decimated by injuries and trades, remain on the fringes of the race, thanks to a career year from Bradley Beal.

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

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