2026 Playoffs Elimination Ruminations: Suns, Blazers, Hawks, Nuggets

PHOENIX SUNS (0-4)

Whether or not the Suns' season was a success is a matter of debate.  They fielded what many considered to be a mediocre roster yet were arguable, throughout most of the season at least, the NBA's most surprisingly-good team.  But then, during the postseason, they proved to be more or less a scrimmage team for the defending champions to warm up against.

I think Phoenix plays too much iso.  Their offense doesn't look like it has any type of discernible strategy.  Some other teams are able to get away with that style of play, but the Suns aren't that all-around talented.

The bigger issue - like I don't now what happened to Mark Williams, but they need more of an interior presence obviously, especially on defense.

I would imagine that, given their current roster, the Suns have some money to spend.  So it'll be interesting to see what they do during the offseason.  And besides a big, this team could really benefit from like a Jrue Holiday, i.e. a PG that actually knows how to run a team.

PORTLAND TRAILBLAZERS (1-4)

I'm not going to say that Scoot Henderson is a bust, but it's obvious, at least to me, that he isn't a starter.  Still waiting for a highly-touted rookie to breakout after three seasons doesn't sound like a wise bet.

So basically, the Blazers traded Scoot for Dame, reacquired the latter, and it's very much possible that next season, Lillard will be starting over Henderson.  That doesn't sound like efficient braintrusting, but then again, neither does hiring a coach who rigs poker games.  And Portland should've known that, unless you're drafting Iverson or some shit, you don't just throw young PGs in the fire like that.

Avidja is a tough, drive-oriented(?) allstar but someone who can benefit from having a teammate more formidable than Robert Williams III or Donovan Clingan downlow.  I'm not dissing either one of them, but you know what I mean.  The Blazers are a wing-oriented team, but their Gs and Fs aren't talented and deep enough to really shake anyone.

Also, how about a round of applause for Holiday?  Dude is old AF in NBA years yet was Portland's best player for at least a couple of games.  He's the consummate professional who, despite his pedigree, doesn't demand to be on a contender and competes, even on a lowly squad like the Blazers.

On one hand, I'm hoping that next season he ends up on a team that can better use his services.  Time isn't really on his side type shit.  But on the other, I'm looking forward to seeing the level-headed, defensive specialist Jrue playing alongside the more sporadic and offensively-talented Dame.  Few backcourts would have balance like that.

ATLANTA HAWKS (2-4)

Even if Atlanta had won the First Round, which for a second there I thought they might, that wouldn't have negated the fact that the Knicks are a much better team.  NYK - as I have said numerous times before - has the most talented starting five in the league, even moreso than the Thunder.

The Hawks traded away Clint Capela - who isn't what he used to be - earlier this season, but now you see the folly in just discarding bigs like that.  They could have at least used a bigger body to throw at the likes of KAT, Robinson and even Anunoby.  Currently, it looks like the biggest guy on this squad is Jonathan Kuminga.  That isn't going to cut it, now that the NBA is trending semi-interior again.

And speaking of busts, what's up with Risacher?  Apparently he isn't injured, yet I didn't even hear his name mentioned this postseason.

Granted, the 2024 Draft has yet to produce any truly exceptional player (besides maybe Stephon Castle), but the Hawks dropped the ball on that one.  They could've at least tried to like trade the pick or something.  And I'm not dissing Zaccharie or anything, but he was amazingly ineffective for a number-one pick.

That said, I can imagine Trae Young got a kick out of seeing his former team get their asses bust like that.  That Game 6 loss is going to linger all the way into next season, even though the Hawks were no match for an inspired Knicks' team.  So it'll be interesting to see how the braintrust adjusts and tries to boost morale during the offseason.  It should probably start with shipping Risacher out who, if nothing else, would arguably benefit from a change of scenery (perhaps even back to Europe).

DENVER NUGGETS (2-4)

All things considered, the Nuggets losing to the Timberwolves isn't overly surprising.  What is is the fact that they lost even though Minnesota didn't have Edwards (and DiVincenzo).  So it's almost like Denver's starters got outclassed by the Wolves' second team.

I don't know what's up with Aaron Gordon.  Apparently he wasn't injured, i.e. unable to play but still proved to be a nonfactor.  Jokic + Murray, imo, are like the best inside-out combination of the 2020s, but Gordon is the x-factor.  When's he unable to play or whatever, it's like Denver loses its grit.

Nikola does get into his fair share of fights, perhaps more than any other player in the league, but he isn't known as a shit-talker media wise.  So the fact that he's been so vocal after Denver was eliminated says a lot, that now, finally a rebuild of sorts is inevitable.  I love Aaron, but he isn't consistent enough these days.  So Giannis, anyone?  I can also sorta picture Kawhi in the equation.

The Nuggets have one of the better braintrusts, so it's unlikely they make a nonprogressive move two offseasons in a row.  Trading Porter Jr. for Cam Thomas, in hindsight, was a mistake.  This isn't a knock against Cam, even though Michael has since proven himself the better all-around player.  It's a knock against the coaching staff for (under)utilizing him the same way they did Porter, i.e. having one of the tallest guys on the court constantly perched behind the 3-point line.  Jokic and the gang have slowly come to realize that they're not going to win again using the same strategy (and players) from 2023.  And speaking of coaches, I bet Mike Malone is getting a kick out of this also.

Where Do We Go From Here? (OKC Thunder Edition)

At first, I didn't have any plans of writing an article like this about the Thunder.  That's because there isn't anything wrong with their roster per se, as in rotation players who I've noticed during the Playoffs that need to be replaced.  OKC has one of the easier rosters to fix, as the team is talented with a clear identity and apparently is on the rise.  So all they need to do is make the right addition.

SIZE MATTERS

The reason why the Thunder couldn't best with the Mavs and likely wouldn't have prevailed against the Timberwolves anyway is because this team looks like is built to beat the Warriors.  I've been arguing for years that size matters in the NBA, even when the mainstream turned against traditional bigs.

I've also been saying that it wasn't wise for teams to try to build their own versions of the Splash Brothers or to go out of their way to try to beat the Dubs at their own game, especially not now, in the 2020s as their dynasty is coming to an end.

Steph + Klay are an anomaly, not the new norm.  They helped change the NBA by encouraging more three-pointers.  But you see who else has won championships in recent years.

The Lakers did it during the bubble with Lebron + AD.  The Bucks won in 2021 with Giannis + Lopez up front.  The Nuggets prevailed last year with the biggest frontline in the NBA.  And if Minnesota takes it this year, as I believe they will, they have twin towers, buttressed by long-ass athletes like Naz Reid.

And wait until Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama are on the same team.  Then people will understand what I meant years ago when I said that the future of the NBA will be teams with five Giannises.  Last season, the Thunder didn't even have a recognizable C, and this season, it felt as if Chet was the only true bigman on their roster.  That's how little this braintrust has come to respect size.

But again, I'm not lambasting OKC, because the progress they've made has shown true growth, the type of which most NBA rosters can only dream of.  Even with a rookie manning the middle, they went from 10th place in the West in 2022-23 to 1st place in 2023-24.  In other words, this is the young team that has shown the most development in recent years.  And come next season, they'll still be relatively young.

ENTER CLINT CAPELA

What actually prompted me to write this post was reading that Clint Capela may be on the trade block this summer.  Back in January, I already stated how he would be an ideal fit on the Thunder.

Capela, currently being 30, may seem a bit aged for OKC.  But his style of play, which relies heavily on rebounds and alley-oops as opposed to needing the ball in his hands, would be perfect for this team.  He's a true bigman, one who doesn't shoot three-pointers and won't need to on the Thunder.  Also, OKC could use a recognizable and experienced vet in their rotation.  Capela has a youthful, energetic playing style that hopefully a team in a better position than the Hawks can capitalize on while he's still vibrant.

And no, I'm not writing Atlanta off for next season.  But it's obvious, to me at least, that they're currently in a rebuild.  And it's not really fair to drag a vet like Capela - who played for the Rockets back when they were contenders during the late-2010s - along for that ride.  After a promising start, the Hawks have underachieved during the Trae Young era and need to like move on type shit.

My second hope is that if the Thunder do go about acquiring Clint, they'll be able to do so without giving up any of their playoff-rotation pieces.  I'm a big advocate of quality roster retention, because familiarity and trust can win games.

For instance, imo the downfall of the Grizzlies didn't began with Ja Morant's antics.  It was when they lost key players like Kyle Anderson in 2022 and Tyus Jones in 2023 that set the stage for their forgettable 2024.  And let's not also forget Xavier Tilman, who was traded earlier this year and isn't even getting playoff burn on the Celtics, despite Porzingis being hurt.

Neither Anderson or Jones are big names in the NBA.  But it would have been more beneficial for the Grizzlies to have Jones this past season than Marcus Smart (who he was traded for), as Tyus had established a standard of overachieving on Memphis and was part of the brethren-like culture their roster managed to build.

CONCLUSION

It may be disappointing to some of us that the Thunder didn't make it pass the 2nd Round after finishing first in the West.  They were also my sentimental favorites entering into the Playoffs.  But their future looks like a lot brighter than many of their rivals, including the Nuggets and Pelicans.  That's because OKC isn't plagued by injuries (fingers crossed), an aging roster or incompatible players.  All they need is a certain key addition (Clint Capela) to take them to the next level.  And to note, the Thunder also have one of the lowest payrolls in the NBA.  That means they may well be able to afford Capela without giving up any key players.

New Year Analytical Reflections (Eastern Conference)

For the few readers who may have been following this blog even during this current period of relative non-activity and it being devoid of an independent URL, I apologize for not staying on top of it.  I've been following the NBA for a long time, and after awhile it becomes sorta redundant and boring.  You have veteran players who spend the entire season looking forward to the playoffs, and you have veteran fans who feel the same.

But we have about reached the midway point, and this is the start of a new year.  So I want to use the opportunity to look back at the predictions I made at the beginning of the season for each respective team and analyzing if those foretellings, from a self-proclaimed guru, have thus far proving true or not.

ATLANTA HAWKS 

Previous Prediction: Given their trajectory over the past couple of seasons, the Hawks are once again on the verge of sliding into obscurity.

Current Standing (17-23, 2-game winning streak): That prediction has proven to be more or less true.  The way the Young + Murray experiment didn't work last season, the Hawks should've have expeditiously moved on from it.  Instead, they got rid of John Collins for some reason.

The problem with teams such as this one is that sometimes the best or most-popular player can be, in the grand scheme of things, the most non-compatible.  I've always been critical of Trae Young's lack of defensive prowess and chucking.  He's an amazing and electrifying scorer who can put on a show like few others in the NBA, but he can't pull off miracles with the same type of consistency as, say, Steph Curry.

Currently, ATL is supposed to be trending towards trading Dejounte.  Another problem with this type of predicament is that Murray is arguably better than Young.  Or let's say, which one you prefer would depend on the makeup or direction of the overall roster.

It isn't likely that trading Dejounte is really change anything, unless the Hawks gets back an above-average player or two whose style is really compatible with Trae's brand of on-court leadership.  And they can't trade Young, even if they wanted to, because as a mediocre team, the last thing you need to be thinking about is getting rid of the one player on your roster who sells tickets.  

The one player I personally hopes gets traded next is Clint Capela, because he deserves better than this.  I can picture him on a team like the Thunder, if they don't have to give up any key personnel to get him.  The Hawks procuring Murray awhile back was a masterful move, from the perspective that at the time he was an all-star.  But overall, their braintrust haven't proven themselves to be gurus.

BOSTON CELTICS

Previous Prediciton: I doubted the fit of Jrue Holiday with this squad, and I also doubted the pairing of Porzingis + Horford from a defensive perspective.

Current standing (32-9, 3-game winning streak) I more or less knew that the Celtics would remain contenders, as they have been for about a decade now.  But boy was I wrong in terms of how good they actually are.  They have the best record in the NBA, though you can't really take that for granted in the East with the Sixers and Bucks lurking around.

I'm still finding it hard to imagine though that Boston will win a championship this year.  Obviously, it can happen.  But for some reason I can't explain, I'm having a difficult time picturing it.

BROOKLYN NETS

Previous Prediction: For some reason that perhaps only they could truly understand, coming into this season it was like the Nets were still expecting Ben Simmons to make a difference.  I think that his NBA days are just about over.  Actually, I was arguing that he should've just retire after bouncing on the Sixers.  Having him on the roster feels more like a burden than a gift.

That said, I still thought the Nets had a better roster than their record, 16 and 24 with a 4-game losing streak, would indicate.  I guess now, the days of dickriding Jacque Vaughn are also over.  There's even been talk of Brooklyn trading Mikal Bridges who, to my knowledge, is their best player.  So, they're looking like a team with no clear direction at the moment.  I guess KD, Kyrie and them really did have the last laugh.

CHARLOTTE HORNETS

Previous Prediction: The Hornets would be the worst team in the NBA.

Current Standing (8-30, 6-game losing streak) LaMelo Ball has health issues of course, but it could be worse.  Miles Bridges is back, having picked up statistically where he left off, even if his brand has suffered.  Brandon Miller is more or less living up to expectation.  Terry Rozier, at this point, can probably be considered the most-underrated player in the league, and even the aged Gordon Hayward is chipping in 15ppg.

Yet, the Hornets still suck.  So even though they don't technically have the worst record in the NBA, they are arguably the worst team as, with their talent, they shouldn't be in the same tier with the Spurs and Pistons.

 CHICAGO BULLS

Previous Prediction: They were going to once again underachieve due to injury and inconsistency.

Current Standing (19-23, 1-game losing streak) I feel bad for Zach LaVine, because now the media has caught on to what I've been saying for the longest - that he's not a viable franchise player - and it's like people are starting to diss or devalue him.  But what I always like to point out in these types of situations is that you can't fault a player if a braintrust concludes that he's better than he actually is and puts the onus on him accordingly.  LaVine is an amazing athlete with a pretty face who can score 20+ points at will, but he isn't good enough to lead a team to a championship.

That said, it's kinda hard to diss the Bulls, because they probably would have been contenders for the past couple of seasons if Lonzo Ball weren't injured.  Like who would've thought that he would end up being such an ex-factor?

But once it did become blatantly obvious that you can't count on Lonzo's health, you know, like two or three years ago, then the Bulls should have been thinking about dismantling this core since then.  And it isn't all about capability issues between LaVine, DeRozan and Vucevic but also, like who's even the role players on this team?

Two or three seasons ago, Chicago did well assembling a formidable team of players all collected from other squads.  But it's been years, like 30 of them, since they've shown any type of exceptional genius when it comes to drafting players.  So when they finally get around to dismantling this roster, might as well let the braintrust go also.

But that said, I do agree with Zach that the Lakers would be an ideal destination for him, and LAL also has a few players who together could be more beneficial to this current iteration of the Bulls than LaVine is.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

Previous prediction: The Cavs are a good team but are not the recipients to necessary amounts of favoritism.

These days, I never hear anything about the Cavaliers besides for an occasional injury report.  That's despite the fact that they're currently 24 and 15 and, more notably, on a six-game winning streak.  But that reality can be considered both a good and bad thing.  

It's good because, that means they're more or less winning as to be expected, you know, like some no-news-is-good-news type shit.  But it ain't so good because that means they're remaining amongst the less-popular teams.  And yes, as I've been saying for years and now even laymen and coaches are starting to realize, popularity does matter when it comes to being successful in the NBA.  The Cavs have a couple of studs, most notably Donovan Mitchell, but for whatever reasons he's never achieved super-duper star status, even going back to his days with the Jazz.

So I wouldn't be surprised, considering how competitive the East has become, if Cleveland, as deep as they may be, once again end up getting bounced in the First Round.  Sometimes in the world of professional sports, a team's championship window only opens for a season or two.  And I still believe that the Cavs more or less blew their chance when they traded Ricky Rubio a couple of seasons ago, even if they did eventually get him back.

DETROIT PISTONS

Previous prediction: They should focus more on acquiring quality vets, because the youth movement isn't working.

Current Standing (4-37, worst in the NBA, with a 1-game losing streak) I knew the Pistons were going to be bad, but I didn't think they would be historically so.  It's kinda confusing because their roster is pretty talented and also a bit deep.

I see that Cade is currently averaging 23 pts and 8 assists, which would be all-star worthy numbers if Detroit were winning.  He didn't turn out to be the kind of bust his dismal and exaggerated rookie season implied.  But at the same time, I think it's safe to say that he may not be a viable team leader neither.

INDIANA PACERS

Previous Prediction: The Pacers may be on cusp of once again being recognized as a great team, but they need to like actually do something first before getting there.

Some people believe that something may have been the acquisition of Pascal Siakim, who they just traded for like yesterday.  I don't doubt, but at the same time, I'm not necessarily convinced either.

Tyrese Haliburton has developed to into an unexpected (to everyone expect Indiana's braintrust) perennial all-star, and the team is solidly entrenched within the second tier of the Eastern Conference.  So maybe, the better strategy would have been to ride it out and try to improve with what they had.

But after what they've done with Haliburton, who I was previously thinking was along the lines of a scrub, I have to believe that the Pacers know what they're doing.  And therefore, getting Pascal should move them into the elite category.

MIAMI HEAT

Previous Prediction: Coming into this season, their roster didn't look as formidable as it did a few months prior.  But if any brainstrust can pull off a miracle, it's the Heat.

Current Standing (24-17, 1-game losing streak) And they did that by drafting this dude Jaime Jaquez that nobody was talking about before the draft yet is currently considered to be the third-best rookie of his class.

The Heat have sorta this blue-collar image to them, like they don't have the starpower of some other teams, but they'll beat you with their doggedness and intelligence.  Their most-popular player is Jimmy Butler, who also has that type of reputation.  And as illustrated with last season's playoffs, the NBA doesn't mind supporting Miami.  So this is definitely a team that you can't sleep on.

MILWAUKEE BUCKS

Previous Prediction: Their roster is deep enough defensively to mitigate, to some degree, the loss of Jrue Holiday.

Current Standing (28-13, 1-game losing streak) That was always a risky prediction, in part because Brook Lopez plays an all-important role in the Bucks' defense, and he's really big, and those big Cs like that tend to age faster, in NBA terms, than leaner ones.  And verily, I can't remember the last time I heard anything positive about Lopez, in terms of him contributing to the team's success, despite the fact that he's still starting and averaging 3 blocks per game.

And I'm not singling him out but just using that as an example to point out the fact that Milwaukee doesn't feel as potent defensively as they have been in the past - not in my words but in those of Giannis, and not due to the absence of Jrue per se but lack of effort, which may in part be attributed to the presence of Damian Lillard, who has never been known as a defender.

But one of the reasons I espoused the pairing of Lillard + Giannis, months before it happened, is because most teams would lose to that type of diverse firepower by default.  Who knows when or if the new-look Bucks will ever quote/unquote 'click'.  But even now, as they aren't, they have the record of a contender, which says a lot.

NEW YORK KNICKS

Previous Prediction: The Knicks offseason didn't impress me, conjuring up feelings of old when their braintrust was dumb AF.

But getting OG Anunoby, based on early returns, once again has NYK's braintrust looking as if they are a lot more intelligent than times past.  In fact, I would say this is the one team without a superstar who's in the best position to win a championship.

ORLANDO MAGIC

Previous Prediction: With Pancho Banchero being sort of an ideal bigman for today's playing style, they may just make the playoffs.

And the Magic have looked like one of the more consistent teams in the NBA.  The Jonathan Isaac experiment never panned out, and Markelle is once again on ice.  But Orlando looks like their just one star player away, i.e. a compatible one, from really being formidable.

PHILADELPHIA 76ERS

Previous Prediction: The Sixers will continue to be contenders even without James Harden.

Current Standing (26-13, 3-game winning streak) That's one prediction that proved spot-on.  Maybe this season, fortune and forces will even favor Philly, and they'll make it to the Finals and maybe even win a championship, which has been a long time coming.

I also foresaw that now that the Sixers have finally decided to let Tyrese Maxey be their primary guard (something they should've done since Simmons decided to bounce, imo), he would be all-star.  Tyrese isn't as popular as some of the other Gs in the east, but it looks like that may also come true, even if he's not an all-star starter, which he probably deserves to be (alongside Haliburton).

TORONTO RAPTORS

Previous Prediction: The Raptors aren't contenders but perhaps could be, with their current roster, if they figured things out.

Current Standing (16-25, 1-game winning streak) But figures things out they have not, not with the roster they began the season with.

The early returns indicate that the Raptors did take a step in the right direction by acquiring Quickley and Barrett.  Trading Pascal Siakim may also work better than expected, since Bruce Brown is underrated but now may finally be in a position where he can really let it all hang out.  

WASHINGTON WIZARDS

Previous Prediction: The Wizards would suck, as usual, but Jordan Poole would be an all-star.

Current Standing (7-32, 1-game losing streak) Well, I got one half of that prediction right.  I'm not writing off Poole's all-star potential just yet, but if he does ever reach that level, it doesn't really look like it's going to happen anytime soon.

In my defense, I've stated in the past, more than once, that dudes tend to shoot better when they're playing with (or sometimes even against) Steph.  The mistake I made is thinking that Poole had spent enough time alongside Curry to have honed his own talent into a comparable level of lethalness.  Obviously, I was wrong.  But it should also be blatantly obvious to everyone by this point that the Warriors made a mistake by letting him go.  It's sorta like both teams lost in that transaction - Washington for overestimating Jordan, and Golden State for underestimating him.