Community Shootaround

Community Shootaround: Most Disappointing Teams

November 28th, 2016 at 3:30pm CST by Luke Adams

Each of the NBA’s 30 teams entered the 2016/17 season with at least a slightly different set of expectations, and in some cases the year-long goals for teams were massively different. For instance, if the Warriors had posted a .500 record for the first month of the NBA season, it would be viewed as a disaster. For the Lakers, a .500 mark through the first 18 games has been a pleasant surprise. So in any discussion about the NBA’s most disappointing teams so far, it’s worth considering that club’s preseason expectations.

In a piece for USA Today Sports, AJ Neuharth-Keusch identifies the five teams he thinks have been the NBA’s most disappointing clubs so far, starting with the Celtics. At 9-7, Boston is currently a top-six team in the East, and is only one game behind the No. 2 seed in the East. On the surface, that doesn’t look like a disappointing start, but the C’s had high expectations for this season, and have dropped some winnable games in the early going. For Boston, a 9-7 record, including a 4-3 mark at home, qualifies as disappointing.

The Trail Blazers, Pacers, Wizards, and Mavericks round out Neuharth-Keusch’s list, with Dallas earning the No. 1 spot. The Mavs entered the season with playoff aspirations and currently hold a league-worst 3-13 record, so that position is well-earned. The Wizards are also in the lottery despite expecting to be a postseason team, while the Blazers and Pacers are hovering around .500 rather than vying four a top-four seed.

In addition to those five teams, several other clubs have had underwhelming starts. The Pistons, Magic, and Heat are all bottom-six teams in the East, while the Timberwolves are off to a 5-11 start. Even the Knicks, who have clawed their way back to .500, have gotten off to an up-and-down start, with offseason signee Joakim Noah not meshing with the roster as well as they’d hoped.

What do you think? Which team has been the NBA’s most disappointing club so far? Which of these teams off to slow starts do you expect to turn things around, and which ones will underachieve all season long? Jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Joakim Noah

November 26th, 2016 at 7:31pm CST by Arthur Hill

When the Knicks sent Robin Lopez to Chicago as part of the Derrick Rose trade, they were confident they could replace him by signing free agent center Joakim Noah. They got their man when Noah agreed to a four-year, $72MM deal, but they haven’t gotten the production they were expecting.

The 31-year-old is averaging 4.5 points and 8.8 rebounds through 13 games, and the Knicks are concerned about both his offense and defense. He is shooting just 32% from the foul line, which is part of the reason his fourth-quarter minutes have been sharply reduced.

The Knicks played two of their best games this week with Noah sidelined by the flu, and there are whispers that he might be better suited to a bench role. He started just two of the 29 games he played in Chicago last year before his season was cut short by a separated shoulder.

Noah posted three consecutive scoreless games before the illness hit, and the offense appears more fluid with Kyle O’Quinn as the starter or Kristaps Porzingis moving to center in a small-ball lineup. Noah acknowledged this week to Marc Berman of The New York Post that he feels “a step slow” and he has been “up and down” since the season started.

With the amnesty clause not expected to be part of the new CBA, there are fears that Noah could already be a sunk cost for team president Phil Jackson. Noah’s age, injury history and poor performance to start the season are all red flags, and there is a growing belief that the Knicks are a better team without him on the floor.

That leads us to tonight’s question: Was signing Noah a mistake or is it too early to judge? And if you believe it was a mistake, which available center would have been a better option?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

Community Shootaround: Blazers’ Trade Possibilities

November 23rd, 2016 at 1:02pm CST by Luke Adams

The Trail Blazers’ offseason spending spree has left the team “ripe for a trade,” Zach Lowe writes in his latest piece for ESPN.com. It’s certainly not the first time we’ve heard about Portland’s trade possibilities, and the speculation makes sense — having extended C.J. McCollum, the Blazers are poised to blow past the salary cap threshold in 2017/18, so they’ll probably want to move a contract or two at some point unless they’re prepared to pay a huge tax bill.

As Lowe observes, general manager Neil Olshey pursued Hassan Whiteside in free agency this summer, and “has a well-documented fondness” for traditional low-post scorers like Brook Lopez, Greg Monroe, and Nikola Vucevic. Jusuf Nurkic, Tyson Chandler, and Kosta Koufos are a few of the other centers identified by Lowe as players the Blazers may chase at some point in a trade. Lowe also names Nerlens Noel, though he admits that the league “doesn’t quite know what to make” of the Sixers’ big man.

Making a deal with a team like the 76ers, Nets, Nuggets, or Suns, who all have an excess of cap room, could make sense if the Blazers are trying to shed some salary. As Lowe points out, a swap involving Lopez and Allen Crabbe, whom the Nets tried to sign in July, could make some sense, but CBA rules don’t allow Brooklyn to acquire Crabbe until the 2017/18 league year after he signed the team’s offer sheet.

It’s unclear which assets the Blazers would be willing to give up for a second- or third-tier center who might not move the needle significantly for the club. As Lowe notes, Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu would have value as trade chips, but they’re probably more valuable to Portland as players. Crabbe and Evan Turner, meanwhile, are in the first year of huge, long-term deals, which limits their appeal. According to Lowe, Turner was “almost as stunned as you” by the four-year, $70MM offer he received from the Blazers in the offseason — Turner excitedly told close friend Andre Iguodala about the offer, and his former teammate told him to accept it immediately.

In Lowe’s view, it would be more daring for the Blazers to explore the trade market for McCollum, though the ESPN scribe doesn’t expect the team to do so. For now, the team remains in wait-and-see mode on all of their players, as they assess how their pieces fit together.

What do you think? What sort of trade might make sense for the Blazers as they try to make the leap from solid playoff team to legit title contender? Is there a deal that could be out there sooner rather than later, or should the club wait until the 2017 offseason to seriously shake things up? Jump into the comments section below to share your thoughts on Portland’s next step!

Community Shootaround: What Should Heat Do?

November 22nd, 2016 at 8:56am CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we examined the Mavericks’ slow start and explored the next steps for a team that has avoided rebuilding for more than a decade and a half. Kevin O’Connor’s piece for The Ringer provided some context on the situation in Dallas, but the Mavs weren’t the only longtime contender identified by O’Connor as a team that should be tanking this season. O’Connor also suggested that the Heat, off to a 4-9 start after last night’s loss to the Sixers, should look toward the future.

The Heat were just one game away from an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in the spring, but this version of the team looks significantly different from that one. Veterans like Luol Deng, Joe Johnson, and – of course – Dwyane Wade are gone. Chris Bosh remains unable to play, and indications are that the team doesn’t expect him to return. Hassan Whiteside is thriving in an increased role, but he doesn’t have much help around him, and the Heat are off to a slow start.

As O’Connor observes, Heat president Pat Riley has long been averse to tanking, having said in the past that he doesn’t love the idea of having to do a full rebuild through the draft: “Lottery picks are living a life of misery. That season is miserable. And if you do three or four years in a row to get lottery picks, then I’m in an insane asylum.”

Still, the Heat’s core is somewhat lacking, with Goran Dragic, Justise Winslow, Tyler Johnson, and Josh Richardson joining Whiteside as the current building blocks. There’s certainly some talent there, but not enough to return to title contention. Miami will likely need to land another impact player to become a top team in the East again, and it remains to be seen where the team will find that guy.

South Beach is an appealing home for NBA players, meaning the Heat are always a major player in free agency, and the team should have some flexibility next summer, but top free agents may be reluctant to sign with the Heat if they’re coming off a lottery season. Additionally, having traded multiple future first-round picks in their deal for Dragic, the Heat aren’t loaded with future assets. And as Ira Winderman of The South Florida Sun Sentinel observes, many of their veterans, such as Dion Waiters, Derrick Williams, James Johnson, Josh McRoberts, and Luke Babbitt, don’t have much trade value, due to their underwhelming performances or short-term contracts.

Riley has indicated that he intends to get another first-round pick for 2017 if it’s possible, which could mean trading Dragic at some point during the 2016/17 league year. The Heat also should end up with a pretty high draft pick of their own if they continue to struggle. If the 71-year-old Riley wants to accelerate the rebuilding process, he could attempt to turn Dragic and his first-rounder into a star via trade(s). But it may make more sense to exercise some patience and add some more young talent through the draft.

What do you think? Is it too early for the Heat to start to look ahead to 2017/18, or is this year’s team not a viable playoff contender? If Miami explores potential deals, is Dragic the only obvious trade candidate, or could they extract some value from other players? Does it make sense for the team to be patient with its rebuild or dangle its increasingly valuable 2016 first-rounder to try to land immediate help? Jump into the comments section below to share your opinions on the Heat!

Community Shootaround: What Should Mavs Do?

November 21st, 2016 at 9:02am CST by Luke Adams

The Dallas Mavericks have enjoyed an impressive run of success over the last decade and a half, finishing at or above .500 in each of the last 16 seasons. The last time the Mavs finished below .500 was back in 1999/2000, Dirk Nowitzki‘s second NBA season, when the team had a 40-42 record.

This season, however, the Mavs will face a major uphill battle to get to 41-41. Just a dozen games into the season, Dallas is already eight games below .500, at 2-10. Nowitzki, battling an Achilles injury, has missed time, as have veteran guards Deron Williams, J.J. Barea, and Devin Harris. The club’s top offseason addition, Harrison Barnes, has looked good, but his 21.3 points per game haven’t been enough to get Dallas more than a pair of victories so far.

It’s unclear at this point whether or not the Mavs will enter a full-fledged rebuild, according to Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders, who tweets that the team is definitely keeping an eye on some young players as potential targets. There’s no sense at this time that the Mavericks will blow up their roster, but if they don’t turn things around and some of their veterans want to be traded to contenders, the Mavs could attempt to accommodate them, tweets Kyler.

Meanwhile, in a piece for The Ringer, Kevin O’Connor identifies Dallas as one of a handful of teams that should be tanking this season instead of going all-out to contend. As O’Connor observes, despite having some decent pieces in Barnes, Wesley Matthews, Justin Anderson, Dwight Powell, and Dorian Finney-Smith, the Mavs’ roster “badly needs an infusion of young talent.”

One team executive tells O’Connor that he thinks Dallas would only tank if Nowitzki’s injury issues persist throughout the year. In that scenario, veteran center Andrew Bogut would draw “plenty” of trade interest, according to the exec. The Mavs also hold their own first-round pick for 2017, so a bottom-five finish would give the team a chance at a top prospect.

What do you think? Should the Mavs hope they can get healthy and turn things around, or is it already time to start looking toward the future? If Dallas does decide to focus on next year, which of their vets should be on the trade block, and which ones should be retained as building blocks? Jump into the comments section below to let us know what you think!

Community Shootaround: Orlando’s Playoff Chances

November 19th, 2016 at 6:17pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Things haven’t gone as planned in Orlando. The Magic were expected to make major improvements this season under new head coach Frank Vogel. The additions of Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo were supposed to take the Magic out of the rebuilding phase and elevate the team’s defense.

Entering Saturday, Orlando is tied with Golden state for 15th in the league in defensive efficiency this season, up slightly from 17th last year. The lack of drastic improvement on the defensive end, coupled with the team’s offensive struggles (27th in the league in offensive efficiency), has led to a ho-hum 6-7 record.

As big of a disappointment as it has been for the Magic so far, it’s not inconceivable that they turn it around. New players need time to learn how to play with each other (just ask the 2010/11 Heatles). New systems take time to master. Combining both is asking for a delay in winning results.

That leads us to tonight’s topic: Can the Magic rebound and make the playoffs this season? If not, what should the franchise do to better position itself for a playoff run?

Their frontcourt is overcrowded and the franchise might be better off shipping out some of its depth for a scorer on the wing. A trade after December 15 might make the most sense, as many players who signed this offseason will then be eligible to be included in a trade.

Instead of making major moves, perhaps a smaller adjustment should be made, like reducing Jeff Green’s minutes. The forward is sporting a career low 9.3 player efficiency rating and the team has been outscored by 92 points in the 260 minutes he’s played this season.

Should this team make any more changes or should it trust that the changes it has already made will pan out? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

Community Shootaround: Early Leaders For MVP

November 18th, 2016 at 1:06pm CST by Luke Adams

Most NBA teams have only played 11 or 12 games so far, meaning we’re about one-seventh of the way through the 2016/17 regular season. While that’s too early to make any concrete declarations about how the rest of the season will play out, it has given us a preview of which players figure to be involved in the race for 2017’s Most Valuable Player award.

Oliver Maroney of Basketball Insiders examines this subject in a piece today, providing some early power rankings for the MVP race. In Maroney’s view, James Harden is the early frontrunner for the award. Harden, who is doing it all for the Rockets so far, is leading the league in assists by a comfortable margin, with 12.8 per game, and also ranks in the top five in scoring with 28.5 PPG. He has recorded three triple-doubles in his first 12 games of the season.

Behind Harden, Maroney places LeBron James second, with Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, DeMar DeRozan, Kawhi Leonard, Damian Lillard, Kemba Walker, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, and Blake Griffin filling out the rest of his list.

Some of those players, like DeRozan (33.3 PPG) and Westbrook (31.8 PPG, 9.8 APG, 9.5 RPG), are in the conversation because of the incredible numbers they’re posting so far. Others, like James, Paul, Durant, and Curry belong in the discussion because they’ve been as great as ever for the NBA’s best teams.

Slumps, injuries, and team performances could derail some of these MVP résumés over the course of the season, but based on what you’ve seen so far and what you expect to see the rest of the way: Who is your early pick for the MVP award? Will a dark horse not even mentioned by Maroney emerge as a candidate, or will the eventual winner be one of the 11 players he listed? Do you agree that Harden is the early favorite, or would you lean toward another player?

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

Community Shootaround: Brandon Knight

November 17th, 2016 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

It was less than two years ago that the Suns sent Miles Plumlee and a first-round pick out as part of a three-team trade that netted them Brandon Knight. Phoenix signed Knight to a lucrative extension in the summer of 2015, and he seemed poised to become a huge part of the team’s future, but as we approach 2017, Knight’s place in the Suns’ long-term plan doesn’t look quite as clear.

The emergence of 2015 first-rounder Devin Booker has made the Suns reevaluate the roles of Knight and Eric Bledsoe, both now and going forward. Booker certainly isn’t going anywhere, and an October report from ESPN’s Zach Lowe suggested the team doesn’t want to move Bledsoe either, which leaves Knight as a potential odd man out. A strong start this season would have helped create a palatable trade market for Knight if the Suns wanted to deal him, Lowe wrote at the time.

Twelve games into the season though, that strong start hasn’t materialized. It’s still very early, but so far, Knight has posted career-worst marks in PPG (12.8), FG% (.377), 3PT% (.286), and APG (3.2), signaling that the transition to a bench role hasn’t been a smooth one. Still, in an appearance on Arizona Sports 98.7FM, Suns general manager Ryan McDonough said his club won’t rush into any major roster changes, and isn’t considering trading the veteran guard at this point.

“We’re certainly not looking to move Brandon, we haven’t been close to trading Brandon,” McDonough said. “I think he’d love to be starting, we understand that. He’s accepted the role very well. I think you guys will see him go on a run here. As you know, watching him play the last couple years, he has the ability to get hot and put up a lot of points in a hurry and take over stretches of games — he hasn’t done that yet for us consistently but I think it’s coming.”

The Suns loaded up on young frontcourt talent in this year’s draft, using a pair of top-eight picks to snag Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss, but most of the team’s notable current contributors are guards or wings — Booker, Bledsoe, Knight, and small forward T.J. Warren are Phoenix’s top four scorers, with shooting guard Jared Dudley tied for fifth. If the Suns were to consider trading Knight, they could target a big man, or perhaps a shooter. A future draft pick or two would likely also appeal to the Suns, who aren’t necessarily looking to contend immediately.

Still, there’s no rush to move Knight. As McDonough notes, the 24-year-old is streaky and his stock isn’t particularly high at this point. He’s also under contract through 2019/2020, meaning the Suns can be patient and assess how their pieces all fit together as Booker, Warren, and the young bigs continue to develop.

What do you think? Should the Suns be looking to move Knight before this year’s deadline to address other areas of need, or to add future picks? Or should they wait things out, knowing that they could still trade Knight a year or two from now if their areas of need become more obvious by that point? Jump into the comments section and weigh in with your thoughts!

Community Shootaround: Washington Wizards

November 14th, 2016 at 7:31pm CST by ChrisCrouse

Marcin Gortat had some harsh words for the Wizards’ second unit following the team’s loss to the Bulls on Friday night. “We need energy. We need effort. We’ve got to make shots,” Gortat said (via Steve Aschburner of NBA.com). “I think there’s a lot of things we can do better. I think right now, as far as I know, I think we’ve got one of the worst benches in the league right now.”

The second unit was an area of concern heading into the season, as I detailed in the team’s Offseason In Review, and the reserves have justified the uneasiness. Journeyman Marcus Thornton has been the team’s best backcourt reserve, but that’s not a particularly impressive status, as he’s only sporting a player efficiency rating of 10.1. New addition Trey Burke hasn’t provided much of a spark. He only has 12 assists on the season and the team is being outscored by 57 points during the 125 minutes in which he was on the court.

Rookie Tomas Satoransky has been inconsistent and he’s only knocked down one of his eight heaves from behind the arc. Fellow rookie Sheldon McClellan had a solid game on Saturday and coach Scott Brooks should give him some more run as a result, but he’s not an electric play-maker who can jump-start this unit.

The problem is compounded by Bradley Beal, who was shooting an icy 29.4% from 3-point before missing the last couple games with a hamstring injury.

That leads us to tonight’s topic: Do the Wizards need to make a move in order to compete for a playoff spot?

Washington has disappointed so far this season, winning only two of its nine games. The franchise signed several big men this offseason and the signings point to a Gortat trade, as I speculated prior to the season. Should the Wizards deal Gortat for some backcourt help or should they make another move to help bolster the bench? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below. We look forward to what you have to say!

Community Shootaround: Alvin Gentry, Brett Brown

November 13th, 2016 at 6:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

A story today by Sam Amico of AmicoHoops.net says that Alvin Gentry may be down to his last days as head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans. Amico has talked to several coaches and GMs who think Gentry will soon become the first coach to be fired in the new season.

The Pelicans are off to a disappointing 1-9 start after finishing 30-52 last season. That means Gentry has won about a third of his games after taking over a team that made the playoffs under Monty Williams.

However, the Pelicans have been beset by injuries and other misfortune ever since Gentry became their coach. They have played without Tyreke Evans and Quincy Pondexter this season, as well as Jrue Holiday, who is on a leave of absence tending to his wife during her health crisis. A year ago, star center Anthony Davis was shut down for surgery in March and played just 61 games. In addition, injuries limited Holiday to 65 games and Evans to 25. Eric Gordon, who left in free agency, appeared in just 45.

Gentry has been dealt an unfair hand in New Orleans, but it’s not clear if that will be enough to save his job. Pelicans management was counting on becoming a contender after giving a $145MM extension to Davis last summer, and they made be ready to replace Gentry just to shake things up.

Another snake-bitten coach is off to a slow start in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers have lost eight of their first nine games, but haven’t had overall No. 1 pick Ben Simmons or power forward Nerlens Noel because of injuries. In addition, Joel Embiid and Jahlil Okafor both started the season on minutes restrictions related to concerns about their health.

Even so, there was a report this week that Brett Brown could be on the hot seat. He was hired by former GM Sam Hinkie, and the new regime may want to make a change to send a message to the team and let the fans know the Sixers are getting serious about trying to win.

That brings us to tonight’s question: Under the circumstances, do Gentry or Brown deserve to be fired? And if they are, who would be the best replacements for the Pelicans or Sixers?

Take to the comments section below to share your thoughts and opinions on the topic. We look forward to what you have to say.

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