SHOUTOUT TO BRUCE BROWN
One of the biggest problems with having a group of superstar divas on the same roster, like what the Nets had been dealing with up until recently, is that the other quality players on the team tend to get overlooked. That's what happened to Bruce Brown last season. There were games, to my remembrance, in which both KD and Kyrie played, but Brown was the most-effective player on the squad. And I was saying to myself that if there's any 'role player' who Brooklyn should go out of its way to retain, it would Bruce.
But in reality, the Nets' braintrust really isn't that smart to begin with. For example, I like Cam Johnson but don't know if I would really risk breaking the bank for him. Also, for some reason they like refuse to give Cam Thomas burn, even though he's obviously one of the best scorers in the league.
AARON GORDON - THE LAST TRUE POWER FORWARD
I remember back later in his career, Shaq used to refer to himself as something like 'the last true center in the NBA'. He wasn't stepping outside settling for midrange shots like others, and since he was 'the last true center', it was like other teams didn't really have a strategy for defending him.
And that's the same thing I see when I look at Aaron Gordon dominating like this. The NBA has become so guard/wing oriented that teams like Miami have no answer for him, and I doubt it would be much different if the Celtics were here in their place. Hell, even Gary Payton II, who's only listed at 6'2", is able to dominate inside these days. So as I have been predicting for the longest, the teams that do still respect interior presence, at the top of the list currently being the Nuggets, are going to dominate into the future. Or as the old saying goes, nothing is new under the sun. And any team that doesn't have a couple of Splash Bros., of which currently there is only one, shouldn't be trying to win every game via the usage of three-pointers.
FUK HAPPENED TO MO BAMBA?
When the Lakers unexpectedly went out and got Mo Bamba a couple of months ago (while simultaneously getting rid of Thomas Bryant), I thought they were going to actually play dude. They could have definitely used him, for instance against these selfsame Nuggets. He's one of those types of players I'm talking about, a lumbering big, the type who's no longer en vogue but virtually every team needs one. So it'll be interesting to see where he ends up next season after being devalued by both the Magic and LAL. Hopefully, it'll be on a roster where he actually gets some burn.
THE FUTURE OF THE HEAT
Even if the Heat somehow go on to miraculously win this series, it's obvious that their roster needs adjustments. I mean, that's been obvious pretty much all season. Jimmy Butler is one of my favorite players, but looking at him on the surface, you wouldn't know how much NBA mileage his body has endured. Dude was playing for the Bulls way back in the Rose + Noah days. So it ain't like he's a spring chicken, and I don't know how much of an onus the Heat should realistically be placing on him by this point.
So the future of this team, obviously, is with Bam Adebayo. Herro is also a keeper, and like might as well play him by this point. Maybe he'll prove to be the additional star the Heat need, now that Denver seems to have more or less neutralized Miami's wily role players. And Butler is also someone you would want to keep around, though primarily as a defensive specialist by this point. 'Playoff Jimmy Butler' is real sometimes, but at this age not all the time. So come this offseason, if I were Miami I would basically slot Bam into the PG position and then do what they have to do from there (like maybe finding a way to get rid of Lowry's contract).
WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? (CHRIS PAUL EDITION)
CP3 is the type of PG that can literally fit in with any team, though whether as a starter or bench player depends on the squad. But as soon as I heard that the Suns were finna to cut him, even til now I can't think of any team that would be an ideal fit that he would actually want to go to.
The thing about these superstars, how they sorta self-sabotage themselves these days, is that they're always switching teams. If, after your rookie contract expires, you spend your entire career bouncing around to teams that are instantly in position to win championships, that likely means there isn't a quality core of young players developing under you. So what happens is that these contenders become too old to compete, which is not how aging is supposed to work.
In other words as you age, no matter what walk of life you're in as far as I could tell, you need youngsters to have your back. So if you're on a team that's gradually building into a champion and then just be like 'fukit, I'm leaving, I want to win now', you know, when the time comes that you need youth on your side, you're may not have it. And that's also a problem a lot of the better teams in the NBA are facing, even the Warriors in a way.
What I would really like to see is CP3 go to a team that could really use him as a starter, like the Rockets or Magic, but again, that's not likely. So I need to think some more before pinning down an actual contender he can go to. Off the top of my head the Bucks keep poppin into mind, but him alongside Jrue Holiday may be too undersized.
SHOUTOUT TO MIKE MALONE
I sorta dissed Mike Malone in my last post for only using a eight-man rotation despite having at least three quality bench players who aren't getting any burn in the Finals whatsoever. But the strategy is working, in part I would say because Miami really isn't on Denver's level to begin with. And the cool thing about it nonetheless is that DeAndre Jordan is on the verge of finally getting a ring, whereas neither CP3 nor Blake Griffin have been as lucky.
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