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Community Shootaround: Midseason NBA Awards

March 12th, 2021 at 1:36pm CST by Luke Adams

On Thursday, we checked in on the state of the NBA’s Most Valuable Player race. Today, with the second half now in full swing, we’re taking a look at where things stand with the rest of the league’s awards for 2020/21, starting with one that looks like a runaway…

Rookie of the Year

Since LaMelo Ball entered the Hornets‘ starting lineup at the start of February, he has averaged 19.8 PPG, 6.8 APG, and 6.1 RPG on .456/.437/.846 shooting in 16 games (33.7 MPG).

Kings guard Tyrese Haliburton has had a good year, and No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards (Timberwolves) is among the dark-horse candidates to make a second-half push for this award, but as long as Ball stays healthy and doesn’t experience a major slump, it’s hard to see how he’ll lose this race.

Defensive Player of the Year

The Jazz have the NBA’s best record and have a two-time Defensive Player of the Year anchoring their defense, which makes Rudy Gobert the leading candidate for this award for the time being. If Utah holds onto the Western Conference’s top seed, voters may be inclined to give Gobert the nod at DPOY to make up for the fact that he and Donovan Mitchell are unlikely to get many top-three votes for the MVP award.

Still, there are plenty of other viable candidates here. Sixers stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons will be in the running. Last year’s winner, Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, could receive consideration again. And it’s a safe bet that Myles Turner‘s eye-popping block numbers (3.4 BPG so far) will help earn the Pacers center some votes.

Sixth Man of the Year

Like Gobert, Jordan Clarkson has the Jazz‘s league-best record working in his favor. He has also been the NBA’s top bench scorer so far this season, with 17.9 points per game on .447/.370/.967 shooting, making him the favorite for Sixth Man of the Year honors.

Rockets guard Eric Gordon is right behind Clarkson in scoring (17.8 PPG), but has missed some time with injuries this season and has started nearly half his games. Raptors big man Chris Boucher, Bulls forward Thaddeus Young, and Heat guard Goran Dragic could gain traction, but right now it looks like Clarkson’s award to lose.

Most Improved Player

Rockets center Christian Wood looked like the frontrunner for this award until he was sidelined by the ankle injury that has cost him the last 14 games. Now, Jerami Grant, the player the Pistons essentially signed in place of Wood, may be the favorite — he has nearly doubled his scoring average this season, from 12.0 PPG to 23.7 PPG.

A few Eastern All-Stars – Knicks forward Julius Randle, Bulls guard Zach LaVine, and Celtics wing Jaylen Brown – could make strong cases for this award, as could Boucher, Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and multiple Spurs youngsters. If Randle or LaVine helps his team lock up a playoff spot, it’d make a compelling case, but Grant’s ability to rack up big numbers on a rebuilding Detroit squad may give him the leg up.

Coach of the Year

The Coach of the Year award often comes down to which team overcame the most obstacles and/or most significantly outperformed their preseason expectations. Based on those criteria, Doc Rivers (Sixers), Tom Thibodeau (Knicks), and James Borrego (Hornets) may be the best candidates in the East so far, while Quin Snyder (Jazz), Monty Williams (Suns), and Terry Stotts (Trail Blazers) deserve consideration in the West.

I don’t get a sense that there’s an overwhelming favorite for this award yet, so the second-half results will be crucial. If a team like the Spurs, Bulls, or Grizzlies has a strong second half, candidates like Gregg Popovich, Billy Donovan, and Taylor Jenkins could make plenty of voters’ ballots.

What do you think? Who would be your award-winners for 2020/21 so far, and who do you expect will ultimately take home the hardware? Which awards are the easiest and most difficult to pick a winner for at this point?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Community Shootaround: Midseason NBA MVP Check-In

March 11th, 2021 at 3:25pm CST by Luke Adams

Halfway through the NBA season, the 2020/21 Most Valuable Player race is shaping up to be a competitive one.

As David Purdum of ESPN details, Lakers forward LeBron James had been the betting favorite to win his fifth MVP award, but he was surpassed over the All-Star break by Sixers center Joel Embiid, who is the new frontrunner at Caesars Sportsbook. Embiid is followed closely by LeBron and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic.

All three All-Stars have compelling MVP cases. Embiid hasn’t played enough games in past seasons to warrant serious consideration, but he has missed just six of Philadelphia’s first 36 games this season and is posting the best numbers of his career — 30.2 PPG, 11.6 RPG, and 3.3 APG, with an outstanding .521/.416/.856 shooting line.

Embiid is getting to the free throw line more than any other NBA player (11.6 times per game), has anchored a top-five defense, and is the best player on the Eastern Conference’s No. 1 seed. His on/off-court numbers offer a clear-cut picture of his value, as the 76ers have a +11.1 net rating when he plays, compared to -6.3 when he doesn’t.

Of course, Embiid isn’t the only player whose team crates when he’s off the court. The Lakers are a +9.1 when James plays and a -4.4 when he doesn’t. And LeBron, at age 36, is still improbably putting up his usual monster numbers, including 25.8 PPG, 8.0 RPG, and 7.8 APG on 50.9% shooting. He has helped keep the Lakers (and their top-ranked defense) afloat despite Anthony Davis‘ recent absence, and L.A.’s 24-13 record puts the club just a half-game back of Philadelphia.

The Nuggets’ net rating is about 10 points higher when Jokic is on the court, and the big man is showing off the kind of offensive game rarely seen from a center — in addition to his impressive scoring (27.1 PPG) and rebounding (11.0 RPG) numbers, Jokic is averaging an eye-popping 8.6 assists per contest and is knocking down 41.8% of his three-point attempts.

The Nuggets are currently sixth in the West, and if that doesn’t improve, it’ll hurt Jokic’s case, but Denver was rolling before the All-Star break and is only 2.5 games back of the third-seeded Lakers.

Embiid, James, and Jokic look like the MVP frontrunners for now, but none of them are running away with the award and there’s plenty of time for others to enter the mix. According to Purdum, Mavericks guard Luka Doncic, Warriors guard Stephen Curry, and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo make up the next tier of betting favorites.

It’s hard to imagine Donovan Mitchell or Rudy Gobert receiving serious consideration, even if the Jazz hold the No. 1 spot. Meanwhile, the Nets are knocking on the door of the East’s No. 1 seed, but Kevin Durant will probably miss too much time to get a ton of MVP votes, and James Harden‘s case will be hurt by his start to the season in Houston. But Harden deserves a look, as do Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard and Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard.

In a shortened season, things could change quickly. Injuries, hot streaks, and slumps could shake up the race in the coming weeks. The power of narrative shouldn’t be understated either, as some voters may like the idea of LeBron getting a fifth MVP award, while others may gravitate toward a first-time winner like Embiid or Jokic.

What do you think? Who has been the NBA’s Most Valuable Player so far? And do you think that same player will win the award at season’s end?

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

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NBA Trade Candidate Watch: Mid-Sized Expiring Contracts

March 10th, 2021 at 2:43pm CST by Luke Adams

With the March 25 trade deadline fast approaching, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players around the NBA who are candidates to be moved this month, breaking them down into several categories based on their age, contracts, on-court value, and other categories. Today, we’ll zero in on players with mid-sized expiring contracts who could be useful salary-matching pieces for deadline buyers.

NBA players on expiring contracts are, by definition, nearly all trade candidates. Many of those players aren’t in their teams’ long-term plans, and even the ones that are viewed as keepers could be shopped if a team isn’t fully confident in its ability to re-sign them.

There are a few exceptions, especially among players who have already been recently traded. The Lakers and Cavaliers gave up first-round picks to acquire Dennis Schröder and Jarrett Allen, respectively — given the price they paid, it seems clear they plan to re-sign those players and aren’t expected to shop them this month. That’s especially true for the Bucks and Jrue Holiday, whose price tag via trade was much steeper.

Most players on expiring contracts are at least at a little risk of being dealt though, so many of those players will be the ones we explore in our Trade Candidate series this week and next week.

On Monday, we examined several players who will be eligible for restricted free agency this summer. Today, we’re shifting our focus to a group of players on mid-sized expiring contracts who may be viewed as expendable salary-matching pieces by teams looking to upgrade their rosters.

Let’s dive in…

Regular rotation players who would be available for an upgrade:

These players are ones who are earning regular minutes for teams with playoff – or championship – aspirations. Some of them are having pretty nice seasons — Snell, for instance, is shooting an otherworldly 56.5% on three-point shots through 23 games. McDermott is averaging a career-best 13.2 points per game.

However, it’s hard to imagine any of these guys would be off-limits if their teams had the opportunity to include them in a package for an impact player, or even just a rotation upgrade.

Green, Zeller, and Iguodala are three of the most intriguing trade chips here. They all earn right around $15MM, so even without attaching another player, they could be used to acquire anyone earning in the $10-20MM range. All three teams are good bets to pursue deadline upgrades too — the Sixers and Heat will be among the top threats to come out of the East, while the Hornets would like to secure a playoff spot for the first time since 2016.

Olynyk ($12.6MM), Barton ($13.7MM), and Snell ($12.2MM) are also interesting salary-matching pieces for their respective teams, though trade partners may be wary of Barton’s $14.7MM player option for 2021/22 — if there’s any expectation he’ll pick up that option, he can’t be viewed as a true expiring contract.

At just $7.3MM, McDermott is a less versatile trade chip than the rest, but he’s still worth mentioning, since he’s the highest-paid Pacer who doesn’t have at least one more guaranteed year left on his deal after 2020/21. He’s also a relative bargain at that price and an excellent shooter whose Bird rights would be valuable. Presumably, he’d only be available in a package for a borderline star.

Players who would primarily be salary ballast:

Dieng ($17.3MM) and Johnson ($16MM) are still certainly capable of playing good minutes, but they’ve been racking up DNP-CDs as of late, and their pricey salaries hurt their value.

While Dieng is a viable trade candidate, Dallas is probably more likely than Memphis to attempt to make a splash at the deadline. If so, Johnson would be more expendable than Tim Hardaway Jr. ($19MM), who is also on an expiring deal but is playing a key role for the Mavericks.

Hood ($10MM) may need more time before he’s fully recovered from the Achilles tear that sidelined him in 2019/20 — he has had his worst season since entering the NBA and his $10.9MM salary for next season is non-guaranteed, so he’ll be the Trail Blazers’ most logical salary-matching candidate as they peruse the trade market.

Leonard ($9.4MM) is one of three Heat veterans on expiring contracts who could be on the move, and has become the most dispensable, due to a season-ending shoulder injury and an off-court incident that involved him uttering an anti-Semitic slur. If he’s dealt, it’s probably safe to assume his new team will cut him pretty quickly.

As for Felicio ($7.5MM), he has been a trade candidate almost since the moment he signed an outsized four-year contract in 2017. It’s not clear yet if the Bulls will be buyers or sellers, but if they seek out a minor upgrade, Felicio would be far easier to move than Otto Porter ($28.5MM).

The wild cards:

These players don’t comfortably fit into either of the first two categories for a handful of reasons. In the cases of Gay ($14.5MM), Mills ($13.5MM), and Oubre ($14.4MM), it’s simply not clear what the Spurs’ and Warriors’ deadline intentions are.

If San Antonio is ready to hand the reins to its young players, the team could fetch a decent return for veterans like Gay and Mills. But the Spurs are currently 18-14 and don’t generally make major deadline deals, so their vets may just stay put — that applies to LaMarcus Aldridge as well, whose $24MM expiring salary is too large to be considered “mid-sized.”

The Warriors, meanwhile, have the assets necessary to be aggressive and pursue an upgrade at the deadline, perhaps using Oubre and the Timberwolves’ 2021 first-round pick. But Golden State is a No. 9 seed in the West and won’t have Klay Thompson available this season, so going all-in might not make sense. The club could just as easily shop Oubre for an asset or two that could eventually be packaged with the Wolves’ pick in a future package.

I nearly put Dinwiddie ($11.5MM) in the “salary ballast” group above, since he’ll likely miss the rest of 2020/21 due to a knee injury. But he averaged 20.6 PPG a year ago and his Bird rights have value — he may be expendable from the Nets’ point of view, since he won’t play this season and the team has a pair of All-Stars in its backcourt going forward, but he’s more than just a salary throw-in.

As for Baynes ($7MM), he could theoretically be placed in either of the first two sections above. He has started 26 games at center for the Raptors and remains a rotation regular, but he’s having a down year and almost certainly won’t be a part of the club’s future plans. If Toronto makes a deadline deal, whether as a seller or buyer, Baynes seems like a good bet to be part of it.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Hoops Rumors Glossary: Traded Player Exception

March 10th, 2021 at 12:42pm CST by Luke Adams

Relying on the trade machines at ESPN.com or TradeNBA.com may be the simplest way for NBA fans to verify whether or not a trade will work under league rules, but it’s worth examining the primary tool in the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement that determines a trade’s viability — the traded player exception.

Teams with the cap room necessary to make a trade work don’t need to abide by traded player exception rules. However, if a team makes a deal that will leave its total salary more than $100K above the salary cap, the club can use a traded player exception to ensure the trade is legal under CBA guidelines.

There are two different types of traded player exceptions used in NBA deals. One applies to simultaneous trades, while the other applies to non-simultaneous deals.

In a simultaneous trade, a team can send out one or more players and can acquire more salary than it gives up. In a non-simultaneous trade, only a single player can be dealt, and the team has a year to take back the equivalent of that player’s salary, plus $100K.

Let’s look into each scenario in greater detail….

Simultaneous:

In a simultaneous trade, different rules applies to taxpaying and non-taxpaying clubs. A non-taxpaying team can trade one or more players and take back….

  1. 175% of the outgoing salary (plus $100K), for any amount up to $6,533,333.
  2. The outgoing salary plus $5MM, for any amount between $6,533,333 and $19,600,000.
  3. 125% of the outgoing salary (plus $100K), for any amount above $19,600,000.

Here’s a recent example of these rules in effect:

Read more

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Community Shootaround: Utah Jazz

March 8th, 2021 at 9:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The team with the best record in the NBA gets precious little respect.

The Jazz reached the All-Star break ahead of the pack in the rugged Western Conference but no one seems to take them seriously. Back in January, TNT analysts Charles Barkley and Shaquille O’Neal refused to give Donovan Mitchell the superstar label, claiming that Mitchell doesn’t impact the game beyond scoring.

When it came time to choose sides in the NBA All-Star draft last week, Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were the last two picks by Kevin Durant and LeBron James.

“There’s no slander to the Utah Jazz,” James claimed. “You guys got to understand, just like in video games growing up, we never played with Utah. Even as great as Karl Malone and John Stockton was, we would never pick those guys in video games. Never.”

Mitchell was not pleased by the perceived insult.

The best way for the Jazz to respond is to finish what they started. The Jazz have been a playoff team the last four seasons. They got knocked out in the first round the last two years after getting eliminated in the conference semifinals in back-to-back seasons.

Last season, Mitchell tried to will his team past Denver, averaging 36.3 PPG in an epic seven-game series, but the Jazz came up just short in Game 7.

Utah didn’t have Bojan Bogdanovic in that series due to a wrist injury. Otherwise, the Jazz have virtually the same rotation as they did at the end of last year. Their chemistry makes them tough to beat in the regular season but the postseason is a different animal, when the biggest stars shine.

That brings us to our topic of the day: Can the Jazz finally overcome their recent history and make a deep playoff run? Or is the team with the best record in the NBA destined for another early-round flameout?

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

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NBA Trade Candidate Watch: RFAs-To-Be

March 8th, 2021 at 4:01pm CST by Luke Adams

With the March 25 trade deadline fast approaching, Hoops Rumors is taking a closer look at players around the NBA who are candidates to be moved this month, breaking them down into several categories based on their age, contracts, on-court value, and other categories. Today, we’ll zero in on players who will be eligible for restricted free agency at season’s end.

Players eligible for restricted free agency make for interesting trade candidates. On one hand, they generally don’t make a ton of money, making them tricky to include in a deal for an impact veteran whose salary must be matched. And many RFAs-to-be will require a significant investment when their contracts expire in a few months, which reduces their trade value.

Conversely though, if a team is unsure about its willingness to match an offer sheet for an RFA-to-be during a coming offseason, or if it knows that player isn’t in its long-term plans, it can make sense to explore the market in the hopes of getting something for that player, rather than letting him walk in a few months for nothing.

In one of 2020’s biggest trade deadline deals, the Timberwolves acquired Malik Beasley and Juan Hernangomez, then signed them to multiyear contracts as restricted free agents a few months later. In 2019, the Mavericks did the same with Kristaps Porzingis.

Who are the likeliest candidates among this year’s RFAs-to-be? Let’s dive in and take a look…

The top RFAs-to-be:

It’s a safe bet that the players in this group will do well for themselves in free agency this summer. Collins should get a maximum-salary offer or close to it; Robinson could command Davis Bertans– or Joe Harris-type money; and Ball and Markkanen have flashed enough of the upside that made them lottery picks to entice a team to make a big multiyear commitment.

The Hawks, Heat, Pelicans, and Bulls will have to decide how much they’re willing to pay to retain their respective players. If they’re worried the price tag will exceed their comfort level, trying to work out a sign-and-trade in the offseason could work — they could also match a summer offer sheet in the hopes of trading the player down the road. But it might be wise to gauge what they could get at this month’s deadline.

Of these four, I think Robinson is probably the least likely to be moved at the deadline — it would only make sense for the Heat to trade him if it’s part of a package for a star, and I don’t expect that sort of star to be available this month.

Ball, and Markkanen are more interesting trade candidates, though I won’t be surprised if the Pelicans and Bulls ultimately don’t feel as if the offers on the table are strong enough to accept. Rival suitors may believe they’ll be able to poach Ball or Markkanen away from their current teams with an aggressive offer sheet, lessening the need to give up assets for them now.

Trent is a key part of the Blazers’ rotation and one of the team’s top outside shooting threats, but it’s unclear if the team will be eager to invest big money in another guard. He’d be an appealing trade chip in a package for an impact player.

Collins is the most intriguing case in this group. Although the Hawks weren’t comfortable going up to the maximum salary when they discussed an extension last fall, I could see them matching a max offer sheet this summer to make sure they don’t lose him for nothing. If a team really wants Collins, now may be the time to make a play for him.

The wild cards:

The first six names in this list are former second-round draft picks or undrafted free agents whose solid play has put them in line for significant raises on their next contracts. Those raises could come from their current teams, but it’s unclear whether they’re all part of the long-term plans for their respective clubs.

Graham, for instance, may be the odd man out in a backcourt that now features LaMelo Ball and Terry Rozier. Nunn has been in and out of the Heat’s rotation since last year’s playoffs, raising questions about whether he’s viewed as a long-term fixture in Miami.

Horton-Tucker was a preseason star in December, and while he’s been just okay during the regular season, he’s just 20 years old and has plenty of potential, so he’ll be a popular target in free agency. It remains to be seen whether the Lakers are committed to keeping him as part of an increasingly expensive roster.

Mykhailiuk is a talented young shooter, but he wasn’t acquired by the Pistons’ current front office, and GM Troy Weaver has almost entirely turned the roster over since he arrived — Mykhailiuk could be the next player shipped out.

Davis recently had domestic assault charges against him dismissed, but the Raptors’ front office may not view that outcome as an exoneration. That case could factor into the club’s enthusiasm for a new long-term deal with Davis.

The one player who doesn’t quite fit in this group is Monk. A former lottery pick, he looked for a long time like a disappointment at the NBA level and a player who wouldn’t be part of the Hornets’ future, but that changed, beginning in late January.

In his last 16 games, Monk has averaged 16.9 PPG with a .436 3PT%, and is making a strong case to receive a $7MM+ qualifying offer that seemed extremely unlikely just a few weeks ago. Presumably, Charlotte would still trade him in the right deal, but he has more value than just a salary throw-in now.

The players who probably won’t even become RFAs:

This group is made up of players who are technically eligible for restricted free agency but probably won’t receive qualifying offers, and will instead become unrestricted FAs.

In some cases, these guys may end up as salary-matching filler in a deadline trade — the Sixers, for instance, could include Ferguson in a package to acquire a player who would actually see regular minutes. Ditto for Wilson and the Bucks.

Ntilikina and Jackson may still have a small amount of value if there are teams out there that believe they can get more out of these former first-round picks than their current clubs have. Ntilikina has at least shown he can defend at the NBA level, while Jackson is only a couple years removed from knocking down 35.5% of his threes as a regular rotation player (19.9 MPG) across 81 games.

Dennis Smith Jr. would have been included in this group as well, but he has already been dealt to a new team, with the Pistons auditioning him in advance of his free agency.

The full list of potential 2021 restricted free agents – including Josh Hart, Zach Collins, and others – can be found right here.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Free Agent Stock Watch: Central Division

March 5th, 2021 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Throughout the season, Hoops Rumors takes a closer look at players who will be free agents or could become free agents this off-season. We examine if their stock is rising or falling due to performance and other factors. This week, we take a look at players from the Central Division:

T.J. McConnell, Pacers, 28, PG (Up) – Signed to a two-year, $7MM deal in 2019

McConnell delivered one of the rarest triple-doubles in NBA history this week. He became the first player to record a point-assist-steal triple-double since Mookie Blaylock in 1998 when he racked up 16 points, 13 assists and 10 steals against Cleveland on Wednesday. He also had a 17-point, 12-assist outing against New York on Saturday.

McConnell isn’t a 3-point threat, but he’s been maximizing his skills as one of Indiana’s top reserves this season, averaging a career-best 6.8 APG. He’s a good fit with the Pacers but he’ll attract interest from other teams as a solid second-unit floor general.

Saben Lee, Pistons, 21, PG (Up) – Signed to a one-year, $449K deal in 2020

Lee was selected with the 38th overall pick in the draft and signed a two-way contract. He’s taking advantage of some unexpected playing time and showing he’s worthy of a spot on the 15-man roster. With Killian Hayes and Delon Wright sidelined by injuries, Lee has provided a spark off the bench behind recently-acquired Dennis Smith Jr. In Detroit’s last two victories, Lee had a 21-point, 4-assist performance against Orlando and a 20-point, 7-assist outing against Toronto. He needs to become more of a perimeter threat but he’ll fearlessly attack the basket and he’s endeared himself to the coaching staff with his work ethic.

Jarrett Allen, 22, C (Up) – Signed to a four-year, $10MM deal in 2017

With the awkwardness of sharing the center spot with Andre Drummond behind him, Allen has settled in as the Cavaliers’ main man in the middle. In 17 starts at center this season, Allen is averaging 16.2 PPG, 11.8 RPG, 2.2 APG and 1.7 BPG while shooting 69.5% from the field. It’s well-known that Cleveland has every intention of re-signing Allen as he enters restricted free agency. The intrigue will come if one of the teams with ample salary-cap space delivers a giant offer sheet. In any case, Allen will become a very rich man this summer.

Thaddeus Young, Bulls, 32, PF (Up) – Signed to a three-year, $43.6MM deal in 2019

Young has a partially-guaranteed $14.19MM salary next season. He’ll get $6MM for sure; he’s giving the Bulls plenty of incentive to hand him the remaining $8.19MM and keep him off the free agent market. Young has been one of the best reserves in the league this season, providing the Bulls with a steady finisher at the rim (career-best 60.9% from the field) and plenty of rebounding. Coach Billy Donovan has turned Young into a playmaker and he’s embraced that responsibility, averaging a career-high 4.4 APG. If the Bulls opt to trade Young this month, they’ll get a decent haul in draft picks and/0r young players.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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Community Shootaround: Checking In On Eastern Playoff Race

March 5th, 2021 at 3:54pm CST by Luke Adams

When we checked in on the Western playoff race on Wednesday, we suggested that there were a few clear-cut tiers within the conference, including 10 teams that look like the top contenders to make the postseason or the play-in tournament.

The Eastern Conference playoff race is far more muddled, but there are at least three playoff locks and legit contenders at the top of the conference, where the Sixers (24-12) are hanging onto a half-game lead over the Nets (24-13) and a two-game lead over the Bucks (22-14).

Philadelphia is positioned to further upgrade its roster at the trade deadline, while Brooklyn and Milwaukee have played well despite lengthy absences for Kevin Durant and Jrue Holiday, respectively. As long as all three teams stay relatively healthy in the second half, it seems pretty safe to assume they’ll secure home court advantage in round one.

After that top group, things get messy. The Celtics (19-17) currently hold the fourth seed, but they’re only separated from the 11th-seeded Hawks (16-20) by four games. In between those two teams, the Knicks (19-18), Heat (18-18), Hornets (17-18), Raptors (17-19), Bulls (16-18), and Pacers (16-19) are all jockeying for position — it wasn’t uncommon in recent days for a team to jump or fall four or five spots in the standings based on the outcome of a single night’s games.

Entering the season, the Celtics, Heat, Raptors, and Pacers were viewed as solid playoff contenders, with Atlanta expected to be in the mix as well. The Knicks, Hornets, and Bulls are the upstarts here, but career years from Julius Randle and Zach LaVine and a breakthrough performance from LaMelo Ball have helped make the case we should be taking them seriously.

With only five teams in the East above .500, most of the current lottery clubs realistically remain in the hunt for a play-in spot as well. The Wizards (14-20), Cavaliers (14-22), and Magic (13-23) don’t have good records, but Washington is within 1.5 games of the No. 10 seed, and even Orlando is only 3.5 games back.

With the All-Star break underway, we want to get your thoughts on the Eastern Conference playoff picture heading into the second half.

  • Which team will grab the top seed?
  • Which three teams will join the Sixers, Nets, and Bucks in the top six, assuring themselves of a guaranteed postseason spot?
  • Which four teams will finish in the 7-10 range and participate in the play-in tournament?
  • Will unexpected playoff contenders like the Knicks, Hornets, and Bulls wind up in the postseason?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your opinions on where things are headed in the East!

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Community Shootaround: Checking In On Western Playoff Race

March 3rd, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Given the truncated nature of the NBA’s 72-game 2020/21 season, the standings in each conference figure to significantly fluctuate all year long, with any multi-game winning streak or losing streak more likely than ever to shake up the playoff picture.

Still, as we near the halfway point of the regular season, the Western Conference standings are – at least for the time being – easy enough to split into tiers.

The 27-8 Jazz are in a tier of their own at the top. Their 3.5-game lead over their next-closest competitor is the biggest margin between any two teams in the conference besides the gap between the 14th and 15th seeds. That cushion should allow Utah to have a bad week or two without necessarily falling out of the top spot in the West.

The next tier is currently made up of three Pacific teams, the Suns (23-11), Lakers (24-12), and Clippers (24-13). They’re all separated by a half-game and are at least three games ahead of any other team in the conference.

The two Los Angeles teams were expected to be here, and they comfortably hold top-four seeds despite having star players (Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard, and Paul George) miss some time due to injuries. Phoenix, on the other hand, is something of an upstart — expectations had increased for the Suns following their 8-0 run at last summer’s bubble and the offseason acquisition of Chris Paul, but few expected them to hold the No. 2 seed in the West with the All-Star break around the corner.

The Western Conference’s third tier consists of six teams bunched together within two games of each other, from the No. 5 Spurs (18-13) to the No. 10 Mavericks (17-16). Others in this group include the Trail Blazers (19-14), Nuggets (20-15), Warriors (19-16), and Grizzlies (16-15).

It remains to be seen whether the NBA’s new play-in format for the final two postseason spots in each conference will make this race more or less interesting. Having six clubs vie for four playoff berths would’ve been entertaining in its own right, but the play-in tournament adds a new wrinkle.

Assuming the Jazz, Suns, Lakers, and Clippers hang onto playoff spots, that will only leave two guaranteed postseason berths for the six “third-tier” clubs. The teams that finish in the 7-10 range would enter the play-in tournament, where the Nos. 7 and 8 teams would need to win one game to advance, while the Nos. 9 and 10 teams would have to win two.

Entering the season, the Mavs, Blazers, and Nuggets were viewed as the likeliest playoff teams from this group, but San Antonio and Memphis have substantially exceeded expectations, and Golden State has admirably overcome the loss of Klay Thompson. If pressed, I’d probably consider Denver and Portland the favorites to claim the fifth and sixth seeds, but this should be a fascinating race.

A few clubs further down in the standings have the potential to shake up the postseason picture too, but it’s hard to get too enthusiastic about the 7-28 Timberwolves or the 11-22 Rockets, both of whom are mired in horrible slumps, or the 14-20 Thunder, who are ostensibly rebuilding. The 13-21 Kings have also been hit hard by a recent cold streak and have a lot of ground to make up.

That leaves the Pelicans (15-19), who are the most intriguing wild card outside the Western Conference’s current top 10. All-Star forward Zion Williamson and 2020 All-Star Brandon Ingram give New Orleans a dangerous one-two punch on offense, but the club will need to tighten up its defense to make a run — the Pelicans’ 116.1 defensive rating ranks 29th in the NBA.

With the first half of the NBA season about to come to an end, we want to get your thoughts on where things stand in the Western Conference playoff race.

  • Will the Jazz finish the season as the No. 1 seed?
  • Will the Jazz, Suns, Lakers, or Clippers fall out of the top four?
  • Which teams do you view as the best bets to claim the top six seeds in the conference?
  • Which four clubs do you expect to take part in the play-in tournament?
  • Will the Pelicans or another team currently in the bottom five force their way into the top 10? If so, which team are they knocking out?

Head to the comment section below to share your two cents!

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Seventeen More NBA Players Become Trade-Eligible

March 3rd, 2021 at 8:22am CST by Luke Adams

Most NBA players who signed new contracts as free agents during the 2020 offseason became eligible to be traded as of February 6, but a small subset of players were still ineligible to be dealt until today, March 3.

These players all met a specific set of criteria: Not only did they re-sign with their previous team during the offseason, but they got a raise of at least 20%, their salary is worth more than the minimum, and their team was over the cap, using Bird or Early Bird rights to sign them.

As Bobby Marks of ESPN confirms (via Twitter), the following players fit that bill and are eligible to be traded as of today:

A few of these players aren’t realistic candidates to be traded — Davis, Ingram, and VanVleet, for instance, aren’t going anywhere this month. But many of them are role players who would probably be available in the right deal, so it’s worth noting that the restrictions on them have lifted.

Only a small handful of players on standard contracts around the NBA remain ineligible to be dealt. That group of players includes the seven who are on active 10-day contracts, since a player on a 10-day deal can’t be traded. Here’s the rest of the list:

Trade-eligible as of March 18:

Trade-eligible as of March 23:

Not eligible to be traded this season:

Gibson and Len signed after the regular season was already underway, so their restrictions will last longer than the ones on players who signed during the offseason. The others in this group signed veteran contract extensions that exceeded the extend-and-trade limits in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, making them ineligible to be dealt for a few months.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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