Community Shootaround

Community Shootaround: Lakers’ Offseason

June 2nd, 2024 at 8:54pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The Lakers always make some big headlines in the offseason and this summer will be no different.

They’ve already been in the news since the end of their regular season, firing Darvin Ham after just two seasons as their head coach. J.J. Redick and James Borrego are reportedly viewed as the frontrunners for the job.

What they do with their roster is more important to their legions of fans. A lot hinges on LeBron James‘ decision whether to exercise his player option or become a free agent. While it’s generally believed that James will stay put, either by opting in or by signing a new deal with Los Angeles, there’s no certainty until he commits contractually. If he’s open to going elsewhere, a team like the Sixers — with tons of cap room to work with — would love to add him to their star duo of Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.

The other major question mark regarding free agency is starting guard D’Angelo Russell, who has an $18.7MM player option. If Russell decides to go on the market, the Lakers will have to decide whether to pursue another contract with him or fill the hole in their lineup in another manner.

The Lakers will have more flexibility than in recent years regarding trading draft picks and making pick swaps. They control their own pick at No. 17 after the Pelicans deferred a trade obligation until next year’s draft. They also have two other future first-round picks to dangle after the free agency period begins in July.

In terms of tradeable salaries, the Lakers have four players besides their two superstars making at least $10MM next season — Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Gabe Vincent and Jarred Vanderbilt. Reaves would be the most coveted of that group but the Lakers have been reluctant to part with the young guard. Vincent and Vanderbilt are coming off injury-marred seasons, leaving Hachimura ($17MM) as the most likely player to be dealt. However, the market for Hachimura would probably be lukewarm at best.

That leads us to our topic of the day: Assuming that LeBron remains with the team, what moves should the Lakers make this offseason to upgrade their team? Should they look to re-sign Russell if he opts out? Should they be more open to trading Reaves if they could get an All-Star level talent in return?

Let us know in the comments section. We look forward to your input.

Community Shootaround: Timberwolves/Mavericks Series

May 21st, 2024 at 10:34am CST by Luke Adams

The Timberwolves and Mavericks were considered two of the Western Conference’s most disappointing teams at this time last spring. The Wolves, who had mortgaged their future in order to acquire Rudy Gobert during the 2022 offseason, barely finished above .500 (42-40) and were quickly dispatched in the first round of the 2023 playoffs. Dallas didn’t even make the play-in tournament after going into a tailspin following the midseason acquisition of Kyrie Irving and posting an unimpressive 38-44 record

What a difference a year makes.

All the pieces came together in Minnesota during the Wolves’ second year with Gobert, as the team got off to a 17-4 start and held a top-three seed in the West for nearly the entire season, led by rising superstar Anthony Edwards, All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, and the NBA’s No. 1 defense.

In Dallas, Luka Doncic and Irving thrived after getting an offseason and training camp together, and the Mavericks really hit their stride during the final two months of the season after acquiring P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford in a pair of trade deadline deals.

The two teams, who each had a projected over/under of 44.5 wins entering the fall, comfortably exceeded expectations in the regular season and have dispatched a pair of tough opponents in the playoffs. The Wolves made quick work of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and the Suns in round one before knocking off the defending-champion Nuggets in round two. The Mavs, meanwhile, beat the Clippers in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 series and then got past the No. 1 Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals.

It sets up a fascinating Western Conference finals between two teams whose histories of deep postseason runs are pretty limited. The Mavericks have made the NBA Finals just twice since their inception in 1980, winning one title in 2011. The Timberwolves’ playoff history is even less inspiring — this is just the second time in their 35-year existence they’ve made the Western finals, and they’ve never advanced further than that.

This year’s Timberwolves might be the best team in franchise history though, with Mike Conley organizing an offense led by a pair of talented scorers in Edwards and Towns, while four-time Defensive Player of the Year Gobert anchors a defense that features perimeter stoppers such as Jaden McDaniels and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Throw in Sixth Man of the Year Naz Reid and jack-of-all-trades veteran wing Kyle Anderson and the Wolves have one of the NBA’s deepest, most versatile postseason rotations.

Minnesota had the NBA’s third-best net rating (+6.3) during the regular season and has improved that mark to +8.5 (No. 2 in the league) during the playoffs, ranking first in the West in both offensive rating (116.1) and defensive rating (107.6) in the postseason. As the higher seed in the Western finals, the Wolves will also have home court advantage in the series.

Given all those factors, it’s no surprise that Minnesota is viewed as the solid favorite entering the Western finals. BetOnline.ag has the Wolves listed at -182 to advance to the NBA Finals, with Dallas at +162.

The Mavericks are a tough opponent to beat when they’re firing on all cylinders though. In Doncic and Irving, they have two elite shot-makers who can wear down even the best of defenses and who don’t mind having the ball in their hands with the game on the line. Dallas’ two star guards are complemented by versatile forwards Washington and Derrick Jones, who have both been reliable threats from beyond the three-point line during the playoffs, as well as Gafford and Dereck Lively, a pair of rim-running centers who are capable of protecting the paint on defense.

Not having Maxi Kleber (shoulder) will hurt, but the Mavs have decent frontcourt depth without him, and there’s a chance he could be back later in the series. If role players like Josh Green and Tim Hardaway Jr. are playing well, it could help make up for Kleber’s absence.

Josh Robbins, Sam Amick, and Darnell Mayberry of The Athletic spoke to a scout, a coach, and an executive about the Western Conference showdown and all three picked the Timberwolves. But they all expect the series to last six games, and that was a common theme in ESPN’s expert predictions as well — nine of ESPN’s 15 respondents chose the Wolves, but not one of the 15 expects the series to be over in fewer than six games.

We want to know what you think. After knocking off the champs, is Minnesota headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in franchise history? Or will the Mavs pull off the upset? Will the winner of this series win the 2024 championship?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts and predictions for the series!

Community Shootaround: Celtics/Pacers Series

May 20th, 2024 at 10:46am CST by Luke Adams

The two teams that will square off in the Eastern Conference finals this spring have benefited from some injury luck in recent weeks.

After dominating the Eastern Conference during the regular season, the Celtics were rewarded with a first-round matchup against a Heat team missing Jimmy Butler and a second-round series against a Cavaliers squad playing without its starting center (Jarrett Allen) for all five games, as well as its leading scorer (Donovan Mitchell) for the last two.

The Pacers have also defeated a pair of foes missing key players during this postseason. Indiana’s first-round victory came against a Milwaukee team that was playing without two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and its second-round win came against the Knicks, who didn’t have Julius Randle, Bojan Bogdanovic, OG Anunoby, and Mitchell Robinson available for most or all of the series.

Teams can only beat the opponents in front of them, so I’m not here to run down either of the East’s two clubs left standing. But if the two teams avoid injuries going forward, this series will represent a new challenge for the Celtics and Pacers.

Of course, the challenge is a more daunting one for the Pacers, who weren’t supposed to be here. Indiana’s over/under for 2023/24 last fall was 38.5 wins. And while the Pacers got off to a strong start, added Pascal Siakam via trade, and comfortably surpassed that win total, they weren’t exactly dominant during the regular season. If not for a victory in their 82nd game, they would’ve been a play-in team. They ranked a modest 10th in the NBA in net rating (+2.9) and just 24th in defensive rating (117.6). They’ll enter this series as major underdogs (+600, per BetOnline.ag).

The Celtics, meanwhile, posted the third-best regular season net rating in NBA history (+11.7), finishing with the league’s No. 1 offensive rating (122.2) and No. 2 defensive rating (110.6). They wobbled slightly in both playoff series, losing Game 2 at home to both the Heat and Cavaliers, and perhaps weren’t quite as dominant against opponents ravaged by injuries as Boston fans would’ve liked to see. But it’s not like they were in any real danger in either round — the Celtics’ +12.8 postseason net rating is even better than their regular season mark.

Still, there are reasons to believe this series could be a competitive one. For one, Boston is still missing Kristaps Porzingis, who was out for the second round due to a calf strain. The latest updates on Porzingis suggest he could return at some point in the Eastern Conference finals, but likely not for either of the first two games at home. As long as he remains on the shelf, the Celtics will miss Porzingis’ rim protection against a Pacers offense that was the NBA’s second-best during the regular season and has been the league’s top unit during the playoffs.

As Jay King and Jared Weiss detail for The Athletic, the Pacers’ bench has been a real strength in the team’s first two postseason series. T.J. McConnell has been impressive leading a second unit that also features sharpshooter Ben Sheppard (.474 3PT% in 13 playoff games) and Obi Toppin (11.0 PPG, 4.5 RPG in just 19.0 MPG). The Celtics have good depth too, but their second unit isn’t quite as strong with Al Horford moved into the starting lineup in place of Porzingis.

King and Weiss also point out that the Pacers would benefit from being able to control the pace in the series. Only the Wizards played at a faster pace than Indiana during the regular season, while Boston ranked in the bottom half of the league in that category — and ranks dead last during the playoffs.

We want to know what you think. Do you see the Pacers pulling off another upset, or is this where their Cinderella run ends? Will Porzingis’ availability – or lack thereof – be a deciding factor, or can the Celtics win this series without him? Do you expect the winner of this series to be the NBA’s 2024 champion?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts and predictions on the Eastern Conference finals!

Community Shootaround: Cavaliers’ Offseason

May 17th, 2024 at 2:02pm CST by Luke Adams

This year’s Cavaliers became the first Cavs team in over three decades to make the second round of the playoffs without LeBron James on its roster. But as successful as the season was in Cleveland, there’s a sense that major changes could be around the corner.

The Cavs will have to make a decision on head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, whose future with the club is said to be in “serious jeopardy.”

They’ll have to figure out whether or not Donovan Mitchell will sign a long-term extension as he enters a contract year.

If Mitchell is unwilling to extend, he could very well end up in the trade block, whereas if he does re-up with the Cavs, it may be Darius Garland who becomes the offseason trade candidate.

Cleveland will also have to decide on whether Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley can coexist in the frontcourt going forward as Mobley becomes eligible for a rookie scale extension.

There has been speculation for months – or even years – that Mitchell won’t want to commit to a long-term future in Cleveland and will ultimately have to be traded, but that’s far from a sure thing. In fact, one report following the Cavs’ elimination from the postseason this week suggested there’s a “growing sentiment” Mitchell will sign an extension.

Still, in the latest episode ESPN’s Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link), Brian Windhorst advised listeners not to assume Mitchell has finalized a decision one way or the other yet.

“I hope to be very careful to not make too much into what the secondary chatter is about what Donovan’s going to do,” Windhorst said. “Because I have heard stuff – from what I would consider reliable sources – all over the board, which leads me to believe that the accurate answer or real answer may not be out there, and that Donovan is doing a great job of keeping everybody in a happy place.

“I will say this, the Cavs organization feels very optimistic he’s going to sign, and maybe that’s the way it’s going to go — I’m not here saying that it won’t. But there’s other people out there saying the opposite.”

Regardless of what happens with Mitchell, Windhorst and his ESPN colleagues Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps agreed during their discussion of the Cavs’ offseason that it probably doesn’t make sense to move forward with the team’s four core players, given the overlap between Mitchell’s and Garland’s skill sets, as well as Allen’s and Mobley’s.

While Mitchell will be the focus of the summer in Cleveland for many fans, the frontcourt issue looms large. Mobley had a solid series vs. Boston in the second round of the playoffs with Allen sidelined, and Allen was at his best earlier in the season when Mobley was on the shelf recovering from knee surgery. If the Cavs have to choose one of the two, it seems likely to be Mobley, who is younger, probably has a higher ceiling, and will be under team control for longer if he signs an extension this offseason.

“I would just say that while there’s extreme interest and excitement probably from certain fanbases to go to the trade machine and work out Donovan Mitchell trades, and maybe those will be needed in a month, we’ll see,” Windhorst said. “I would think the Cavs are going to be spending more time in this next month looking at possible Jarrett Allen trades, and what that could bring.”

As Bontemps observed in the Hoop Collective podcast, the Cavs seem unlikely to completely tear things down this offseason. Even if Mitchell doesn’t agree to an extension and ends up being traded, there’s still too much talent on the roster to bottom out, so in any trade discussions, the team would likely seek players who could step in and make an impact right away — or draft assets that could be flipped to acquire those sorts of players.

If the Cavs end up looking to move Allen and/or Garland, one obvious potential trade partner would be the Pelicans, who have been linked to Allen several times in the past and also have a need at point guard. A deal involving rumored trade candidate Brandon Ingram could be the sort of move that would better balance both rosters.

We want to know what you think. Does Bickerstaff need to go or has he earned another year at the helm in Cleveland? Will Mitchell sign an extension? If he doesn’t, what kind of trade should Cleveland be seeking? If he does, will Garland have to go? And what about the frontcourt? Should Allen be on the trade block this summer?

Head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts and predictions!

Community Shootaround: Conference Semifinal Check-In

May 14th, 2024 at 12:56pm CST by Luke Adams

Of the NBA’s four conference semifinals currently in progress, one looks all but over. The Celtics, who entered the series as heavy favorites, hold a 3-1 lead over the Cavaliers, will host Game 5 (and a potential Game 7) in Boston, and are facing a banged-up Cleveland team that might not have its leading scorer (Donovan Mitchell) or defensive anchor (Jarrett Allen) back in action for a do-or-die game on Wednesday.

The other three series, however, remain very much up in the air, with each of them tied at two games apiece.

In the East, the Pacers have overtaken the Knicks as the betting favorites in their series — BetOnline.ag now lists Indiana at -145 to advance to the conference finals, with New York at +125. A fully healthy Knicks team would presumably still be favored to win the series, but this version of the club is anything but.

Already missing Julius Randle and Bojan Bogdanovic when the second round began, New York has since lost Mitchell Robinson to a season-ending ankle injury and OG Anunoby to a hamstring injury that has sidelined him for the last two games and will keep him on the shelf for Game 5. Jalen Brunson also isn’t playing at 100% and hasn’t looked quite the same since briefly exiting Game 2 due to a foot issue. He made just 37.2% of his field goal attempts and 18.2% of his three-pointers in the Knicks’ two losses in Indiana.

New York still holds the home court advantage in the series and has shown impressive resiliency over the course of an injury-plagued season. But will the Knicks finally run out of gas and succumb to a healthier and deeper Pacers team?

Over in the West, after impressive Game 4 victories, the Nuggets (-170) are once again considered the favorites to knock out the Timberwolves (+150) and the Thunder (-157) are back in the driver’s seat against the Mavericks (+137).

Denver and Minnesota combined to go 63-19 at home during the regular season, but the two Northwest rivals are 0-4 on their own courts in this series. Given the Nuggets’ championship pedigree and the advantage that the Denver elevation typically gives the home team, it’s no surprise that they’re now the popular pick to win the series, but it would be premature to rule out the Timberwolves after the way they played in those first two games of the series. The Wolves will need more from Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored just 27 points on 9-of-25 shooting (36.0%) in the team’s two home games.

The Mavericks, meanwhile, will go as far as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving can take them, and neither guard came up big in Game 4 — the two stars combined to score just 27 points on 10-of-31 shooting (32.3%). Doncic has been hampered by knee and ankle injuries and likely won’t be 100% healthy until he gets some time this offseason to recover, but if he can give the Mavs performances like he did in Games 3 (29 points) and 4 (22 points, 15 rebounds), they’ll take it.

The Thunder, meanwhile, have had to work around the fact that starting guard Josh Giddey is something of a liability in this matchup — Giddey hasn’t played more than 17 minutes in any of the series’ four games. Oklahoma City has the depth to work around the issue, but it puts more pressure on the team’s other top play-makers and scorers, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to carry the offensive load. Gilgeous-Alexander has delivered so far, scoring at least 29 points in all four games vs. Dallas and handing out 7.0 assists per contest.

We want to know what you think. It seems pretty safe to assume the Celtics will be in the conference finals, but which three teams will join them there?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts and make your predictions!

Community Shootaround: What Should Spurs Do With Two Lottery Picks?

May 12th, 2024 at 4:32pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

A year removed from selecting Victor Wembanyama with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 draft, the Spurs will now boast two draft selections in the top eight of the impending 2024 draft.

San Antonio’s own first-round pick moved up a spot to No. 4, while the team also secured the top-six protected 2024 first-rounder acquired from the Raptors as part of the trade for center Jakob Poeltl during the 2022/23 season, when that pick tumbled to No. 8 overall.

The Spurs have a real opportunity for some cost-effective team-building here. But, in a draft that isn’t particularly well regarded, will San Antonio team president R.C. Buford really want to retain both his team’s picks? Alternately, perhaps he sees something in a prospect others don’t, and could package the two selections together to move up even further in the draft.

Two French frontcourt prospects, Perth Wildcats center Alexandre Sarr and JL Bourg forward Zaccharie Risacher, are among the top players in this year’s class, and could fit well alongside their countryman, San Antonio’s freshly minted Rookie of the Year Wembanyama.

Crvena Zvezda guard Nikola Topic, G League Ignite swingman Ron Holland, Connecticut big man Donovan Clingan and Kentucky guard Rob Dillingham are a few more of this year’s top prospects.

If they don’t love the players at the top of this year’s draft class, the Spurs could look to add veteran talent alongside Wembanyama, who also finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting, in more of a win-now approach.

San Antonio struggled for much of the season to pair him with a proper point guard, with head coach Gregg Popovich curiously opting to start power forward Jeremy Sochan at the point for a while. The team could try to package the contract of a young talent like Devin Vassell or Keldon Johnson, or perhaps oft-injured big man Zach Collins, plus one or both of this year’s picks and some other future draft equity, to acquire a star-level lead play-maker in a trade.

We want to know what you think. Should San Antonio stand pat, pivot to a win-now approach, or wind up somewhere in between?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in!

Which Draft Prospect Should Go No. 1 Overall?

May 12th, 2024 at 12:21pm CST by Rory Maher

As we relayed in our primer, the 2024 NBA draft lottery takes place this afternoon at 2:00pm Central time. While this year’s lottery isn’t nearly as highly anticipated as last year’s, each team would still love the opportunity to land the No. 1 overall pick.

Unlike the 2023 lottery, in which every team was hoping to select French phenom Victor Wembanyama, who went on to win Rookie of the Year with the Spurs, the 2024 draft has no real consensus at the top.

For example, French wing Zaccharie Risacher is ranked No. 1 overall on ESPN’s top-100 list, but he’s No. 8 on Sam Vecenie of The Athletic’s big board, No. 9 on Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report’s board, and all the way down at No. 12 on Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer’s board.

Another French player, big man Alexandre Sarr, might be the closest thing to a lock to be selected in the top three. He’s ranked No. 2 by ESPN, No. 1 by Vecenie, No. 4 by Wasserman and No. 1 by O’Connor.

Serbian guard Nikola Topic is another prospect who appears in the top five of each list. He’s No. 5 at ESPN, No. 2 at The Athletic, No. 3 at Bleacher Report and No. 2 at The Ringer.

There’s significant variance on several other prospects. G League Ignite wing Ron Holland is ranked No. 10 by ESPN, No. 7 by Vecenie, and No. 6 by O’Connor, but he’s the top overall prospect on Wasserman’s board. UConn’s Stephon Castle is ranked No. 3 on Vecenie and O’Connor’s boards, but No. 9 on Wasserman’s and No. 10 on ESPN’s.

We want to know what you think. Which prospect do you think should be selected No. 1 overall in next month’s draft? Is it one of the players mentioned here, or someone else? Head to the comments to share your thoughts.

Community Shootaround: Celtics/Cavaliers Series

May 7th, 2024 at 2:10pm CST by Luke Adams

No second-round series in the this year’s NBA playoffs is viewed as more one-sided than Celtics vs. Cavaliers. Ahead of Game 1 on Tuesday, betting site BetOnline.ag has made Boston a -2000 favorite to advance, listing Cleveland at +1000 to pull off the upset.

Based on what we’ve seen this season from Boston, those odds don’t come as a major surprise. At 64-18, the Celtics won seven more games than any other team in the NBA and 14 more than any Eastern Conference rival. They put up the third-best net rating in NBA history (+11.7), finishing with the league’s top offensive rating (122.2) and second-best defensive rating (110.6).

In Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics have a starting lineup full of two-way impact players, with no weak links on either end of the floor. And while they’re not exactly loaded with depth, the first few players off their bench – Al Horford, Payton Pritchard, and Sam Hauser – all made positive contributions this season.

The Celtics experienced a minor hiccup in round one, losing Game 2 at home to a Miami team that was missing star forward Jimmy Butler, but they bounced back admirably with dominant victories in Games 3, 4, and 5, holding the Heat to between 84 and 88 points in each of those contests to close out the series in convincing fashion.

The Cavaliers, on the other hand, had a middle-of-the-pack net rating this season (their +2.5 mark ranked 12th in the league), and their 48-34 record was buoyed by 17-1 run in January and February. They went 13-18 to close the regular season and then needed seven games to get past an Orlando team that outscored them overall.

Donovan Mitchell was excellent in that first-round series, averaging 28.7 points per game, but he’s still dealing with a leg injury and the Cavs struggled to get much secondary offense going against the Magic, with Darius Garland, Evan Mobley, Caris LeVert, and Max Strus all scoring well below their regular season averages.

It doesn’t help matters that the team has been missing starting center Jarrett Allen, who has been out for the last three games due to a rib contusion, and Dean Wade, a rotation forward who likely would have been playing regular minutes in the playoffs.

On paper, it looks like a one-sided matchup, but there are a few arguments against penciling in the Celtics for a sweep. For one, they’re missing Porzingis, who may remain on the shelf for the entire second round while he recovers from a calf strain. They can slot Horford into Porzingis’ starting spot, but he’s not as dynamic an offensive player, and it will mean relying more on reserves who barely played in the first round, such as Luke Kornet and Xavier Tillman.

The Cavaliers also played the Celtics competitively during the regular season, with all three games between the two teams decided by single-digits. Cleveland lost a pair of contests in Boston, but beat the C’s at home in March. That victory should give the Cavs a little confidence entering Game 1, as should the fact that they were able to get a monkey off their back by winning a playoff series this spring after a disappointing showing in 2023 — that could remove some pressure entering round two.

The Celtics have their own playoff demons to reckon with. They lost the Eastern Conference finals to the Heat last spring as heavy favorites and are in championship-or-bust mode this year after falling short with rosters led by Tatum and Brown for the past several seasons. A second-round loss would be a disaster for the franchise, so if they hit another snag like they did in Game 2 vs. Miami last round, they’ll have to respond like they did against the Heat and not let the Cavs start to get comfortable.

We want to know what you think. Will the Celtics have any problems against the Cavs or do you expect Boston to advance without too much trouble? Is there any chance of a Cleveland upset? Are the Celtics bound for the NBA Finals?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts and predictions!

Community Shootaround: Thunder/Mavericks Series

May 6th, 2024 at 12:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As we noted when we discussed the Nuggets/Timberwolves showdown last week, that second-round battle between two Northwest rivals has the potential to be one of the very best series we get during these NBA playoffs. But the other Western Conference semifinal, which begins on Tuesday, shouldn’t be overlooked — Thunder vs. Mavericks is a marquee matchup in its own right.

The Mavericks finished the regular season as the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, but they weren’t a typical five seed. Dallas came into its own during the second half of the season, particularly after acquiring P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the trade deadline to solidify the rotation.

From March 7 through April 10, when they locked up the No. 5 spot, no team had a better record (16-2) or a better defensive rating (106.0) than the Mavericks, and only Boston’s +13.0 net rating was better than Dallas’ +12.2 mark during that window. The new-look Mavs appeared to be a team peaking at the right time, and their first-round performance against the Clippers did little to dispel that notion.

With Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving leading the charge on offense and Washington, Gafford, Derrick Jones, and Dereck Lively among those playing key complementary roles, the Mavericks have arguably their most well-rounded roster during the Doncic era and appear capable of legitimate contention.

But the Mavs will miss frontcourt stalwart Maxi Kleber, who will be unavailable for the Western semifinals due to a shoulder injury. And even with a healthy Kleber, it’s unlikely Dallas would be favored to beat a Thunder team that earned the No. 1 seed in the West this season and then made a four-game sweep of the Pelicans look easy in round one.

The Thunder are the youngest team in NBA history to win a playoff series, per ESPN (Twitter link) — everyone who plays regular rotation minutes for Oklahoma City is 25 years old or younger. It often takes some time for teams that young to learn how to win in the playoffs, but the Thunder should head into round two with plenty of confidence after dismantling New Orleans.

Oklahoma City has its own MVP finalist – Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – to counter Doncic’s impact, and while none of the other players on the roster can match Irving’s impressive career résumé, forward Jalen Williams (19.1 PPG on .540/.327/.814 shooting during the regular season) and center Chet Holmgren (16.5 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 2.3 BPG) are rising stars, Luguentz Dort and Cason Wallace are three-and-D standouts, Josh Giddey is a talented play-maker whose outside shot has become more reliable, and Aaron Wiggins, Isaiah Joe, and Jaylin Williams provide legitimate depth.

The Mavericks enjoyed an impressive second-half run, but the Thunder were an elite team all season long, ranking second only to the Celtics in overall net rating (+7.3). Oklahoma City was also the only club besides Boston to rank in the NBA’s top five in both offensive rating (third) and defensive rating (fourth). And the Thunder will hold home-court advantage over the Mavs, which isn’t insignificant, given that OKC’s 33-8 home record during the season tied for the best mark in the West.

The oddsmakers at BetOnline.ag view this series as the closest call of the four second-round matchups entering Game 1. Currently, the Thunder are slight favorites at -130, but the Mavs (+110) are almost even money to win the series.

We want to know what you think. Are you counting on the Thunder to continue their meteoric rise by booking a spot in the Western Conference finals, or is Dallas positioned to pull off the upset here? Do you expect the team that wins this series to make the NBA Finals or fall to the winner of Denver/Minnesota?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts and predictions!

Community Shootaround: Knicks/Pacers Series

May 3rd, 2024 at 11:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The Knicks and Pacers closed out their respective first-round series on Thursday, securing their spots in the Eastern Conference semifinals and lining up a playoff matchup straight out of the 1990s.

As Wheat Hotchkiss of Pacers.com details, back in the days of Patrick Ewing and Reggie Miller, a New York/Indiana series was something of an annual tradition in the Eastern Conference, with the two teams meeting in six out of eight postseasons from 1993-2000. Since then, the clubs have squared off just once in the playoffs – in the 2013 Eastern Conference semifinals – but the current iterations of the Knicks and Pacers are well positioned to rekindle that old rivalry.

Both teams are led by point guards likely to earn their first All-NBA nods this spring — Jalen Brunson for the Knicks and Tyrese Haliburton for the Pacers. While Haliburton is more of a distributor, having led the NBA with 10.9 assists per game during the regular season, Brunson has had to take on a far greater scoring load since Julius Randle suffered a shoulder injury in January. He averaged 31.5 points per game in 33 regular season contests after Randle went down and leads all playoff scorers with 35.5 PPG.

The Pacers, who finished the regular season with the NBA’s second-best offensive rating (120.5) have gotten much of their scoring this postseason from their frontcourt, with Pascal Siakam (22.3 PPG) and Myles Turner (19.2 PPG) leading the way while Obi Toppin (12.3 PPG) contributes off the bench. Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, and T.J. McConnell, meanwhile, have given the team important minutes in the backcourt and on the wing alongside Haliburton.

With Randle unavailable, the Knicks have leaned heavily on wings Josh Hart, OG Anunoby, and Donte DiVincenzo for three-and-D production to complement Brunson, with Miles McBride, Isaiah Hartenstein, and Mitchell Robinson also playing key roles.

Indiana won the season series between the two teams by a 2-1 margin, but the Knicks have home-court advantage and will enter round two as heavy favorites (-265 on BetOnline.ag). As good as the Pacers were offensively during the season, New York was nearly as effective – their 117.3 offensive rating ranked seventh in the league – and the Knicks were the far stouter team on the other end of the court, ranking ninth with a 112.4 defensive rating. Indiana placed 24th at 117.6.

Several Pacers have appeared in the playoffs before – including Siakam, who played a major role for the Raptors’ championship team in 2019 – but it’s Haliburton’s first postseason and this Knicks team played into the second round a year ago, so New York probably holds the slight playoff experience edge.

The Knicks may also be more comfortable playing at a playoff pace — their regular season mark of 95.96 possessions per 48 minutes was the slowest in the NBA, and they’ve slowed things down even further during the postseason (91.09). The Pacers, conversely, ranked second in the league with a 102.16 regular season pace and have had to adjust to a more deliberate style in the postseason — their first-round mark was just 92.89.

We want to know what you think. Are you expecting the Knicks to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the first time since 2000, or will the Pacers continue their unlikely run with another series victory? Assuming the Celtics are the other team in the Eastern finals, will the winner of this series have a legitimate shot to topple Boston and make the NBA Finals?

Head to the comment section to share your thoughts and predictions!

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