Community Shootaround

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.

When your commissioner compares All-Star Game changes to putting “an earring on a pig,” it’s probably time to try something different.

That’s how Adam Silver characterized the new All-Star format in a speech Friday at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, relays Jimmy Golen of The Associated Press. The NBA is in its second season of having the highest vote-getter from each conference make selections from a pool of players chosen by fans and coaches. Even though this year’s game was shown on both TNT and TBS, it tied for the worst rating in its history with a 3.8.

“The All-Star Game didn’t work,” Silver admitted, calling it “an afterthought” of an event-filled weekend.

Silver would like to shorten the regular season to about 70 games and make up for the lost revenue by replacing the All-Star contest with a midseason or pre-season tournament that would amount to a separate championship. It’s similar to the format in European soccer. He also suggested that teams could stage a mini-tournament in Europe or Asia.

One problem the league would face is how to make the competitions matter when the ultimate goal is to win an NBA title. Another is that cutting the schedule to 70 games means every team would have to give up the money from six home dates. And although players and coaches would prefer a shorter season, none would welcome an accompanying pay cut to make it possible.

We want to get your opinion on Silver’s musings. Is the All-Star Game beyond salvaging? Would you be interested in seeing a tournament take its place, and is there any way to make it meaningful? Does the NBA need a shorter season, and how can the revenue be replaced? Please leave your comments in the space below.

On Tuesday, our Community Shootaround discussion focused on NBA head coaches who might be on the hot seat this spring. For today’s discussion, it seems fair to turn our attention to the coaches on the other end of the spectrum who are in the running for 2019’s Coach of the Year award.

Generally, the coaches who receive the most consideration fall into at least one of three categories: They lead their team to one of the NBA’s best records, their team significantly outperforms expectations, or they manage to overcome a slew of injuries and other obstacles to keep their team in the hunt.

Based on the first two of those criteria, Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer should receive strong consideration. While most pundits predicted a bump in the standings for Milwaukee this season, not many saw this coming — the Bucks’ 46-14 record is the NBA’s best, and the club has a top-five offensive rating to go along with its league-best defensive rating. On the surface, the Bucks’ roster – beyond superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo – didn’t look as deep as Boston’s or Toronto’s, and the starting five didn’t look as dangerous as Philadelphia’s, but Budenholzer has the team in the driver’s seat in the East.

Over in the West, Michael Malone‘s Nuggets have pulled off a feat similar to Milwaukee’s. Denver is just one game back of Golden State for the conference’s top seed, despite not having a particularly star-studded group behind Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets weren’t necessarily viewed as a lock to make the playoffs entering the year, so Malone’s work should be lauded.

Nate McMillan meets all three of the criteria listed above — the Pacers have a top-five record in the NBA (40-21), they’ve exceeded expectations so far, and they’ve done it without star guard Victor Oladipo for much of the season. Oladipo, who is out for the rest of 2018/19, appeared in just 36 games for Indiana. While most NBA fans and observers leave the Pacers out of the “big four” teams in the East, McMillan’s squad remains ahead of the Celtics and Sixers in the standings.

Other candidates worthy of consideration include Kenny Atkinson (Nets), Doc Rivers (Clippers), and especially Dave Joerger (Kings). Their teams were all once viewed as probable lottery participants, but they’re now very much in the playoff mix. Steve Clifford is on the verge of entering that discussion as well, with the Magic making a postseason push this month.

Nick Nurse deserves a mention as well. The Raptors were expected to be a contender coming into the season, but things weren’t expected to come together quite this quickly. Nurse has Toronto on nearly a 60-win pace, and has done so while dealing with Kawhi Leonard‘s “load management” and injuries to several important rotation players.

What do you think? Who do you believe is the frontrunner for 2019’s Coach of the Year award? Are there are any underrated candidates you believe deserve serious consideration for the honor?

Jump into the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Whispers about a potential coaching change have followed Luke Walton around for nearly the entire 2018/19 campaign, and while the Lakers have insisted both publicly and privately that his job is safe for the rest of the season, there’s no guarantee he’ll keep it beyond that.

With just 22 games left in their season, the 29-31 Lakers are currently on the outside of the playoff picture, trailing the eighth-seeded Spurs by three games. It will take an impressive run over the next month and a half to earn a playoff spot. If the Lakers can’t make that type of run, it wouldn’t be shocking to see the team move on from Walton in the offseason. However, he’s not the only NBA head coach who might be on the hot seat in the coming weeks or months.

As Dan Feldman of NBC Sports relays, John Gambadoro of Arizona Sports 98.7 has suggested that Igor Kokoskov‘s seat in Phoenix is getting hot. The Suns picked up a win on Monday night to snap their 17-game losing streak, but if the Suns had been mulling a change, a single victory is unlikely to change their minds. It’s Kokoskov’s first year in Phoenix, but the general manager who hired him – Ryan McDonough – is no longer in the front office, so the new management group might want to bring in its own coach this spring.

Elsewhere in the Western Conference, Alvin Gentry finds himself in a similar spot to Kokoskov. The GM who hired him has recently been fired, and his team hasn’t met expectations in 2018/19. On the other hand, Gentry has had to deal with unusual circumstances, including an Anthony Davis trade request, and he still has his team playing hard. He’s reportedly well-liked by management and ownership, so the Pelicans may stick with him beyond this season.

Ryan Saunders (Timberwolves), Larry Drew (Cavaliers), and Jim Boylen (Bulls) took over for recently-fired head coaches during the season, and while the odds are against all three keeping their jobs in 2019/20, they’ve all gotten pretty good reviews so far. It wouldn’t be shocking to see any combination of the three return for next season.

Scott Brooks‘ Wizards have underperformed in 2018/19. The club has insisted all year that he’s not on the hot seat, but his job security appears more tenuous than many of his fellow lottery-bound coaches, who either have a track record of success (like Rick Carlisle) or were recently hired (such as David Fizdale, J.B. Bickerstaff, and Lloyd Pierce).

With the home stretch of the ’18/19 season approaching, we want to know which teams you expect to make a coaching change this spring. Which coaches are in the most danger? Will we see plenty of turnover once the season ends, like we did a year ago, or will it be a fairly quiet spring for head coaching turnover?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

When LeBron James signed with the Lakers last summer, anticipation began building about who the next star would be to join him in L.A. It’s a question that still hasn’t been answered.

As LeBron tries to make a run to the playoffs surrounded by a collection of young players and veterans on one-year contracts, the organization’s long-term picture remains fuzzy. The front office made a strong pitch for Pelicans star Anthony Davis before the trade deadline, but all its offers were rebuffed, and now the Lakers will have to compete with teams such as the Celtics and Knicks that might have more assets they’re willing to offer to New Orleans.

L.A. will enter the summer with enough cap room to offer a max contract, but the team may not be the front-runner for anyone in a talented free agent class. ESPN’s Tim Bontemps examined some of the elite free agents this week and found that the Lakers won’t have an easy path toward landing any of them.

The Knicks are believed to have the inside track on Kevin Durant if he decides to leave the Warriors. The Celtics remain confident they can keep Kyrie Irving, but Bontemps thinks it’s more likely that he would team up with Durant in New York than accept a reunion with James. Kawhi Leonard has indicated a desire to play in Los Angeles, but reportedly prefers a lead role with the Clippers over becoming part of LeBron’s supporting cast.

Klay Thompson will stay with the Warriors if they comes through with a max offer. Kemba Walker has strong ties to Charlotte, which can give him a supermax contract worth more than $200MM over five years. The Bucks’ Khris Middleton and the Sixers’ Tobias Harris both appear destined to stay with their current teams.

Bontemps pegs Jimmy Butler as the most likely option for the Lakers if the Sixers decide they don’t want to max out him and Butler at the same time Ben Simmons becomes eligible for an extension. The ESPN writer sees DeMarcus Cousins as another possibility if the Lakers are willing to take a risk on his long-term health so soon after a major Achilles injury.

We want to get your input on the Lakers’ future. Who do you believe will be the best player that team president Magic Johnson and GM Rob Pelinka will add this summer? Please leave your responses in the space below.