The championship window is open, and no one is flying through it
Most of the teams chasing the NBA title did little if anything at the deadline. Is that because they think they have enough, or because they don't think they can catch the Lakers and Bucks?
Good morning. Bonus free edition this week because Thursday WAS A LOT. Like maybe a little too much? Whatever. Let’s basketball.
Hannibal Crossing the Alps, J.M.W. Turner
After the Toronto Raptors won the championship last season and because the Golden State Warriors are out of the picture, I have defined the group of teams I consider contenders fairly broadly this season.
I would include, even 50 games into the season:
Lakers
Clippers
Nuggets
Jazz
Rockets
Bucks
Raptors
Heat
Sixers
Celtics
That’s a full third of the league. And few of them made a major change at the trade deadline. Only one of these teams really “went for it” despite a seemingly open race for the title.
Robert Covington is the best player any of these teams acquired, and Houston did make a bold move in committing fully to five-out style, albeit adding just one body at the cost of Clint Capela. That said, Houston was probably not on my contenders’ list before the trade; so to me, this isn’t the story of a contender adding that perfect piece to put them over the top (like Toronto with Marc Gasol last year). This is a team on the fringe of championship relevance trying to launch themselves into the conversation. (That looks good one day in.)
Miami added Andre Iguodala. Okay.
The Clippers grabbed Marcus Morris. Fine. He helps. Maybe L.A. thinks he helps more than I do.
Philadelphia picked up Glenn Robinson III and Alec Burks (replacing James Ennis and Trey Burke). Sure.
Denver took on Jordan McCrae, Noah Vonleh and Keita Bates-Diop at the cost of Malik Beasley and Juancho Hernangomez; I honestly don’t think this is an upgrade this year for them, though it helps on the cap sheet going forward.
We can wind back to when Utah took on Jordan Clarkson. That’s been pretty good. Also, Utah has lost five straight.
The Lakers, Bucks and Raptors — none of them needed anything. And none of them did anything. The Celtics fit that same category, in my opinion: were I Boston, I would be happy to enter the playoffs with this roster, to see what happens.
The fact that only Houston truly shook things up makes everyone else’s relative inaction look normal and justifiable. But it’s still surprising that in a year when things are as wide open as they seem, no one is arming up to fight to favorites. Everyone is satisfied.
Maybe it’s because the Lakers and Bucks aren’t afraid of the teams chasing them, and the teams chasing them aren’t afraid of the Lakers and Bucks. They can’t all be right: a bunch of these teams are going to lose this race, and I sure do wonder if they’ll second-guess themselves about what they could have done in February to give them that edge.
The Warriors’ Bet
The most fascinating thing to me about the Warriors’ decision to trade D’Angelo Russell to the Timberwolves for Andrew Wiggins and a lightly protected 2021 Minnesota first-round pick is that it is a bet by the Warriors that Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns aren’t going to do a damn thing together in Minnesota, at least next year. It’s a bet that Russell isn’t going to lift Minnesota up any higher than Wiggins did.
The pick is reportedly protected in the top three and rolls into an unprotected 2022 pick if it doesn’t convey next year. With new draft lottery rules in place, that doesn’t mean that Minnesota will have a good chance of keeping the pick if they are really, really bad. It’s a crap shoot now. If you’re a bottom 10 team, there’s a dice roll’s chance you’ll keep a top-3 protected pick. The Warriors took on Wiggins’ awful contract hoping to get a very high pick. Wiggins may also be a marginal better fit than Russell, but Russell is the better player. It’s about the pick.
This is an amazing thing when you think about it. The Warriors gave Minnesota what it so desperately desired, what it’s been aiming for since the summer: a DLo-KAT pairing. And in the process the Warriors made a huge bet that it’s going to be a disaster.
Will they be right? The Warriors are usually right, and that has to scare the Wolves a little bit. Watching how Minnesota performs the rest of this season with the duo and a misshapen roster will be interesting as a prelude to seeing which team — the one that has been to five straight Finals or the one with a single wining season since 2004 — is right.
My Initial And Only Current Thought About The Andre Drummond Trade
Scores
Pelicans 125, Bulls 119 — In eight games, Zion Williamson is averaging 19.8 points in 26.9 minutes, shooting 57 percent from the floor. He went 9-11 against Chicago.
Zion’s Mardi Gras jersey might be the coolest jersey of an active player one could wear these days, challenged only by the Bam Adebayo Miami Vice jersey.
Sixers 101, Bucks 112 — Nice effort by Philadelphia defensively. Joel Embiid shot 6-26, one of the worst shooting performances ever for a center taking at least 25 FGAs. Giannis Antetokounmpo is way, way too much: 36-20-6 in 35 minutes on 52 percent shooting from the floor. Five straight games with 30-15. He’s on his way to being the second unanimous MVP in league history. Marvel!
Spurs 117, Blazers 125 — I’m not counting San Antonio out. But I’m not counting on San Antonio brewing up some magic at this point. Three straight losses, now four back of No. 8 with Portland in their way. And I’m pretty sure Memphis just got better adding Justise Winslow (if he plays this season) and flipping Jae Crowder for Gorgui Dieng.
Rockets 121, Lakers 111 — I’m going to hold my powder on Houston until we see this for like a week or so. But it’s pretty interesting that they beat L.A. playing big-less ball with James Harden having an off night. It’s pretty, pretty interesting.
Weekend Schedule
Here are the highlights from the weekend schedule. All times are Eastern, games are on League Pass unless otherwise noted. Full schedule can be found here.
Friday
Grizzlies at Sixers, 7
Raptors at Pacers, 8, ESPN
Blazers at Jazz, 10:30, ESPN
Saturday
Pelicans at Pacers, 7:30
Nets at Raptors, 7:30
Clippers at Wolves, 8
Lakers at Warriors, 8:30, ABC
Sunday
Celtics at Thunder, 3:30, NBA TV
Jazz at Rockets, 7, NBA TV
Heat at Blazers, 9
Links
Paul Flannery on Andrew Wiggins in the Bay Area.
Andre Iguodala is the king of getting bread.
Rob Mahoney on the Rockets’ experiment.
Mike Prada’s trade deadline winners and losers.
How I love everything about Kawhi Leonard’s new t-shirt.
I did a full All-Star mock draft for SB Nation before the real thing last night.
Folks, I was so right about James Harden being the second-to-last pick among starters — Giannis even called out Harden when drafting Kemba! — and Domantas Sabonis being the last pick overall. I also had LeBron grabbing both Chris Paul and Ben Simmons but I overrated how early I thought LeBron would pick CP3, his best bud. I was pretty surprised how early Rudy Gobert went given that this is an All-Star Game and screen assists are not too common, but alas. Can’t wait to see LeBron and Luka play together, assuming Doncic is healthy by then. (I love the All-Star draft; Giannis is so funny.)
Sean Highkin’s idea for a pregame playground-style draft is good, too.
Haley O’Shaughnessy asks the Pistons why.
A memorial for Kobe and Gianna Bryant is set for 2/24.
No rest for those worried about Masai Ujiri’s future in Toronto. Meanwhile, the Knicks hired Leon Rose and maybe Worldwide Wes to run basketball ops … on trade deadline day.
Lots more next week, friends.
Thanks for your support. Be excellent to each other.