2025 NBA Finals Ruminations (Game 7)

 THE PACERS HAVE EARNED MY RESPECT

A week or so, after taking the Eastern Conference and maybe a game or two in the Finals, Haliburton was talking about how the Pacers have been underestimated all season long, how many critics considered their success of last year a "fluke" and shit like that.  I was thinking like man, dude must've been reading this blog, because that's exactly how I felt about Indiana's 2024 postseason showing and to some extent this year's also.  But dudes have now firmly earned my respect, for what it's worth.  IMO, there's no reason to believe if Tyrese didn't get hurt or whatever, they probably would have taken Game 7, in OKC.

Obviously though, this is a team that needs and upgrade or two.  If Haliburton is incapacitated, you can't put the onus on Siakim because he's too old in NBA years, and frankly put, even though Pascal is a star, he's never been a superstar.  You know, he ain't KD type shit.  But dude really tries.

I'm also hoping that Myles Turner sticks around.  Yes, it's frustrating at times seeing the biggest man on the team, especially one as mobile as he is, going through stretches where he has like zero impact.  But if they retain Turner, instead going out trying to fill a specific position, their roster is such that Indy can just go for whoever is the best free agent on the market.  But ideally yes, they would make an addition that'd edify the frontcourt, preferably a big who like rebounds and plays defense.  Why not?  The Thunder - and especially Jalen Williams - were like killing them in the interior.

HALIBURTON FALTERS

No disrespect, but I was looking forward - one way or another - to Tyrese proving ineffective in Game 7.  I thought it was going to be something like the crowd getting in his head.  Instead he came out the gate ultra-hot, easily looking like the best player in the contest, and then fucked up his ankle at like totally the worst time.

To some extent, I think there are legitimate questions as to just how much an "MVP" SGA is, you know, how much he deserves that title, because in the grand scheme of it all Haliburton has been more or less playing just as well, up until Game 7.  You know what I'm saying?  There were games during this series where you're like 'is SGA really MVP'?

"THE FUTURE OF THE NBA"

You now have these news outlets dubbing OKC and Indy 'the future of the NBA', with the current youth movement being something I first predicted at least three years ago.  But anyway.... if niggas is playing in the Finals and winning championships and shit, obviously they're the present, not the future.

The Thunder, in my humble opinion, didn't overly impressed.  I'm genuinely convinced that the Pacers had OKC's fandom shook more than vice versa.  That's one of the advantages of being the underdog - there isn't as much pressure to succeed, so to speak.  But still, even if Indiana did proceed to win the championship, it would've been hard to argue that the Pacers' roster is superior.  It's more like Indy just had the bigger heart, which is understandable considering the road they took to get here. 

Indy relied more heavily on the three which, as the series progressed, did appear as the preferable strategy, so long as the shots were going in.  I was hoping that, given the size of OKC, the Finals would prove the end of the smallball era.  Obviously that's not going to happen just yet, if ever.  But I think it did reaffirm that size does matter as teams, such as the Thunder, rely on drives and midrange shots.  In other words, if other squads don't have the adequate size/talent to defend the key (which most don't), it's going to be virtually impossible to dethrone the defending champs.

IS OKC OVERRATED?

I know that's a funny question to ask, considering they just won the championship.  But I think they are overrated in the sense that many of us presumed, or I guess you can say assumed they'd best the Pacers more convincingly.

The Thunder also seems to have issues sometimes maximizing all of the major pieces on their roster, which isn't really anything new, as I remember last postseason Josh Giddey getting lost in the sauce.  I'm not saying that anyone was neglected in 2025 per se, but again, you have to believe this team could have played better - or perhaps smarter - during the Finals.  Like I don't foresee Mark Daigneault winning COY anytime soon.  If you have a team who, on paper, is better than everyone else, than you're not just supposed to win games; you're supposed to dominate.

But I guess now that the roster is used to each other, we'll really see what's up next season.  I'm looking forward to dudes, if healthy, winning 70 games next year.  Like I hope more pundits start calling out their less-than-stellar performance rather than dickridin.  Now that OKC has won a championship, they'll prolly need that extra encouragement to stay motivated.

It'd be cool if Chet Holmgren especially learned how to play better or more consistently in the post.  Maybe he will, as he ages and get fatter(?).  These days, it's like you have to push bigmen to bang down low, to take advantage of their size instead of relying on jumpers, and you don't want to wait until too late, kinda like how the Cavs have done with Mobley.  Conclusively, OKC could really benefit, imo, from adding some versatility to their offensive style/strategy, because dudes may have struggled more than they should have versus Indy.

SHOUTOUT TO LU DORT

Speaking of being lost in the sauce, Dort is probably the fifth or sixth most-popular name on OKC, but he's like their glue guy.  Lu may never be like a star in his own right, but in the grand scheme of things he's just as important to this roster as anyone outside of SGA and Williams and is arguably just as important as the latter.  He's the one who, when defenders are paying so much attention to the stars, can do unexpected shit that like changes the momentum.

A GOOD, SCRAPPY WHITE

If I were able to put together my own NBA team, the rotation would definitely have to include a scrappy White, and I'm not talking about any of those European sissies.  I mean an American whiteboy like T.J. McConnell, Alex Caruso, Tyler Herro if you want to take a more 'civilized' approach or even Austin Reeves, who's been developing swag of late.

As for McConnell, I'd have to presume these Finals raised his stock significantly.  He's far from being a max player, and he's also kinda old in NBA years.  But more than anyone on the Pacers' roster, based on the Finals, he deserves more burn next season.  More importantly, he's proven to be exactly the type of player you want on your team during big games.  He's a small, unpretentious Whiteboy - so much so that even if T.J. scores 40 points, it'd still be difficult for the opposing defense to focus on him.  McConnell played better than Haliburton in at least two games during this series, but the D could never rationalize giving him the full Haliburton treatment.

There's a headline currently circulating insinuating that T.J. was like crying or some shit after losing Game 7.  It's hard to imagine what, from a professional perspective, would compel someone being paid $10mil/year to play basketball to cry, you know, in public even.  But that just goes to show not only how much dude wanted to win but how much he believed they could have won, even without their star.

And speaking of American whiteboys, you know, I never seen Cooper Flagg play, but I hope he knows or learns how to scrap.  He's going to need that playing alongside the likes of AD and Klay.  Coming into the NBA as an American white, you're already an underdog.  That's one of the reasons, I believe, that Cooper has gone from being unanimously considered to be the next big thing to now analysts saying 'who knows how he'll pan out against the big guys'.  Learn from Alex Caruso; learn from McConnell my nigga.  A lack of athleticism can be mitigated by doggedness.

THE RISE OF THE TALL POINTGUARD

I'm sitting here ruminating over that stupid-ass Desmond Bane trade and thinking to myself that yes, the Magic could've used an upgrade at point, but they needed one more in the interior.  Pointguard is the most stacked position in the NBA, like the easiest one to fill with a proficient player.  Why?  Because more people are playing basketball these days, and most of us are normal-sized, not giants.

But on the surface, the NBA is getting taller, not shorter.  The game may have transitioned more towards the three, with guards traditionally being better shooters.  But now, as compared to the past, people no longer believe that really-tall dudes are like too dumb to dribble type shit.

If you look at this year's Finals, you'll see that Haliburton is listed at 6'5" and SGA 6'6".  Even looking at those dudes on TV, you can tell they're lengthy, like tall enough to reasonably play SF (in today's NBA).

Contrast this with back in the days, when tall points like Magic Johnson were considered anomalies.  Even into the 21st century, PGs like Shaun Livingston and Michael Carter-Williams stood out due to their height.  Now, we have a Finals with two tall starting points, and like no one even blinked twice.  Meanwhile, this may have been the first time in history something like that happened, i.e. both starting points being taller than 6'5".

Most of the PGs in the NBA are still short, relatively speaking, but maybe we're witnessing the start of something new.  It isn't unfathomable to imagine, say, Wemby and Holmgren one day being on the same team.  Lu Dort, at the 2 (and listed at 6'4") is the shortest starter in OKC.  Just something to think about, once again headed into next season.  If you want to beat these guys, throwing all your disposable assets at Desmond Bane (listed at 6'5", tho he obviously isn't that tall) probably isn't the (complete) answer.

SHOUTOUT TO JOSH GIDDEY

I always wonder how it feels to be a starter on a team, get traded, and then the very next season the team wins a championship, like what happened to DeMar DeRozan.  Well, the same thing just happened to Josh Giddey, whom the NBA world seems to have more or less forgotten about (probably by design, all things considered).  Those two situations were kinda different because, I don't think anyone would argue that DeRozan is better than Kawhi.  But with Giddey, it's not like Caruso isn't necessarily better - a better fit in OKC, yes, but probably not better all-around.

That was just one of a couple of shrewd moves the Thunder made last offseason to get to this point.  It'll be interesting to see what they do this summer, if anything, but even moreso with the Pacers.  I don't envy Indiana, because one of the worst predicaments you can be in as an NBA team chasing a championship is reliant on a superstar who is, well, unlucky health-wise.  It's funny because, if you would have asked me just a week ago, I was on the verge of even concluding that Tyrese is blessed type shit.  But this goes to show how you can't take nothing for granted.

2025 NBA Finals Ruminations (Game 1)

FUK IS CHET?

While watching the highlights from Game 1, the thing that kept playing in my mind is 'where is Chet Homlgren?'  Like why aren't the Thunder going to him more?  They de-factored him, basically.

Either Indiana outsmarted OKC, or OKC outsmarted themselves. They got sucked into sort of a fast-paced, athletic game.  The Thunder can run with the best, but still, downsizing their strategy to match the Pacers' speed wasn't particularly smart, almost like they forgot what got them here in the first place.  Holmgren may be hell of a basketball player, but he isn't necessarily fast and athletic.  The Pacers' win wasn't overly convincing, in terms of them proving that they're actually a better team, but they did win the mind game.

To my knowledge, Isaiah Hartenstein has been starting throughout the entire Playoffs.  So why now all of a sudden they decide to bring him off the bench?  Are the Pacers truly that intimidating, that you have to change what works, and then still lose?  At least lose a game with the proven starting lineup before making changes.

THE SIZE FACTOR?

The one clear advantage OKC has over Indiana, all things considered, is their size.  The Pacers aren't exactly small themselves, but since Myles Turner doesn't play like a traditional C, nor Obi Toppin like a standard big, still there's a size advantage.

It may be debatable how much size is truly advantageous against a team that not only favors the three but also tends to make them.  But again, let the Pacers actually beat the bigs before concluding that the starting lineup needs to change.  Now, if OKC does roll out the starting bigs in Game 2 and lose again, oh my goodness, confidence shaken.

The thing about the Pacers is that there's so many guys you have to keep your eye on.  You have these long stretches where like Tyrese Haliburton doesn't really seem to do shit.  Sometimes, it looks like he's even hiding. like 'please don't pass me the ball'.  But when they need him most, he shows out and succeeds.  If Indiana also wins Game 2, you know, on some last-second play type shit, the "miracle" implications are going to reach a whole new level.

SHOUTOUT TO OBI TOPPIN

Of all the players in this series, the one I would like see win a championship most is Obi Toppin, not saying I necessarily want Indy to win, but still.  He was one of the first players, upon the Knicks recently going into GM Lebron mode, who ended up being devalued and eventually 'traded to the Pacers for two future second-round picks', despite being a NY fan favorite.  Damn, the disrespect.

SHOUTOUT TO PASCAL SIAKIM

Pascal Siakim isn't necessarily what you would call a superstar.  Like he seemed, after a hot start, to sorta fade away as Game 1 wore on.  But that hot start was exactly what the Pacers needed, like 'yeah, it is possible to beat OKC in the Finals on their homecourt'.

Pascal is aging, but he's always been more or less a supporting star anyway.  And that's the thing about Indiana, like their entire roster is made up of (overachieving) supporting players.  Even Haliburton, you know, he may be "Steph of the East", but he isn't like a deadass Steph, like he hasn't reached (prime) Curry's level of consistency yet, if ever.

These guys all like compliment each other well.  The mark of a good team isn't when all players are perfect but rather when they mitigate each other's deficiencies.  OKC is also like that, to some degree, but they need to stick to the gameplan, win or lose, that got them here.

2025 NBA Playoffs Ruminations (28 May 2025)

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES (1) vs OKC THUNDER (3)

I haven't watched the highlights from Game 4 but am surprised that, based on what I've read, the Thunder were able to totally shutdown Randle and Ant-Man.  Either Julius and Anthony are overrated, OKC's defense really is that good, or there's something else going on.  I don't think they're overrated, but, you know what I mean?  Niggas ain't ready type shit.  Or like I was saying before, the competition, all players considered, is just flat-out superior.

Sometimes, it feels like the Wolves are cursed.  They have one of the better logos and braintrusts in the NBA but still more or less suck.  They aren't one of those franchises like, say, the Wizards, that haven't had a good roster in over a decade.  Remember that Minny once had KAT + Wiggins + Butler but still couldn't make it work, at all.  Meanwhile, their current roster is deeper and more versatile than most.  It isn't the braintrust (per se), and it isn't the players, so maybe it's the coaching.

Besides that, I don't want to say much except Minny should prolly be happy they even won Game 3.  Yes, I do think that it's suspicious that the best team in the NBA suffered their worst lost of the season, a 40+ point blowout(!), not during an inconsequential mid-January game but rather the Conference Finals.  But other than that, this series is more or less playing out as I expected.

Mike Conley may be an anachronism, but at least he isn't the scapegoat.  That's going to fall on Ant-Man, and I would presume, to a lesser degree, Randolph and Gobert.  The good thing about being a lesser-known player is that at least no one blames you when the team loses.

INDIANA PACERS (3) vs NEW YORK KNICKS (1)

The Pacers are now one of my favorite teams, as they arguably have the best brainstrust in the NBA.  They've made a number of unusual, arguably questionable (at the time) moves that are now paying off:

...retaining Myles Turner for over a decade, even though he's never made an all-star team.

...making Tyrese Haliburton the face of the franchise, at a time when he was virtually unknown.

...trading for Pascal Siakim who, previously being stuck up in Toronto, seemed to almost never get his due respect.

But more exceptional than any of that has been surrounding them with an overachieving supporting cast, composed of a bunch of dudes who like no one ever even heard of before last season.

I feel bad for the Knicks if they lose this series, because there's going to be more questions than answers.  Just yesterday, Yahoo published an article basically highlighting how poor of a defender Jalen Brunson is and accordingly, the Pacers targeting him on offense.  They even went as far as to point out that, according to some advanced metrics, he's one of the very worst defenders in the NBA.  Damn, I didn't know it was like that.  Meanwhile, he and Lebron "Godfather" James recently made the All-NBA Team.  That's obviously an accolade that's based primarily on offensive output than anything else.

Besides that, they're also implying that the much lesser-known Miles McBride is better defensively.  Damn.  If this were the regular season, I'd perhaps even suggest, as controversial as it would be, benching Brunson for McBride.  But it isn't, and you can't ask a reigning All-Star to suddenly give up his starting spot in the Conference Finals.

WILL THE LAKERS BE WATCHABLE NEXT SEASON?

Apparently, the answer to that question will be based on how much Luka + Lebron + Reeves you can endure, because it looks like they may be running it back with that same middling core.

More than any other franchise in the NBA, the Lakers have a history of attracting top-notch talent.  But damn, who can they even afford right now?  They're saying that if LBJ opts into his contract, LAL will be on the hook to pay him $55mil(!).  Even Lebron, as confident as he may be, has to be able to admit by this point that this roster is lacking, and he isn't known for being loyal to non-contenders.  But the question is, can even King James walk away from $55mil?

Luka, btw, didn't make All-NBA.  Having played only 50 games, he wasn't even eligible, despite his extraordinary all-around stats.  Does that mean that Lebron, who's almost 15 years his senior, is still a better player?  And if so, why did LAL go after Doncic to begin with (while losing AD in the process)?  That's the real question they should be asking themselves going forward, at least after this season, when they no longer have to pay Lebron.

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.

Shoutout to DeMar DeRozan

Man, do I love a good karma story.  But on the surface, there was nothing really wrong with the DeMar DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard trade when it transpired.  Kawhi wanted out of San Antonio and not only got his wish but was also traded to a quality team.  Meanwhile the Raptors, it's like everyone knew they had to make some type of major change sooner or later since they couldn't get past Lebron in the playoffs (even though Toronto traded DeRozan the same summer LBJ went to the Lakers).  And in receiving Kawhi, they did in fact go on to win a championship.  And meanwhile for DeMar, I mean it's not like the Spurs were a garbage team when he went there.  And they did their thing with him in tow but apparently were not on par with the superteams of the day.

But that said, it ain't like DeMar wanted to be traded.  Unlike Kyle Lowry, the other star of the Raptors at the time, DeRozan was actually drafted by Toronto and up until his point had spent his entire career there.  And no one who watched him play would deny that he didn't give his all for the team, even if he isn't as good as Lebron.

Also, according to DeMar himself, Masai Ujiri, the then-President (of Basketball Operations) of the Raptors, promised him straight-up that he wasn't going to be traded, you know, right before he traded him.  So it's understandable why, from DeRozan's perspective, this wasn't a conventional case of a star player being swapped.  But Kawhi kinda got vengeance for him anyway by leaving the Raptors in a worst state than when he arrived and arguably even worst than he did the Spurs.

But the karma doesn't end there.  For as we speak it appears that DeMar, as a member of the Bulls, may be an upcoming All-Star starter.  The Bulls btw, who I believe had the best offseason of 2021 (along with the Wizards), are currently second place in the East.  Meanwhile the Raptors are in eighth place, which is still pretty good all things considered.  But I don't think anyone in their right mind would consider them better than the Bulls.

Meanwhile, Kyle Lowry isn't even on the above-hyperlinked list of potential All-Star guards and may never be an All-Star again.  And Kawhi Leonard, as great as he is, like who knows when we'll next see him on ab NBA court and if he'll even be able to reclaim his past form?  And it's sorta like this quote I came across, I believe from The Last Dance.  And that is it's cool to like have won a championship back in the day or whatever.  But the present always trumps the past.

CONCLUSION

So this is my way of congratulating DeMar DeRozan for currently being a better player than Kawhi Leonard or Kyle Lowry.  Honestly speaking, when the Raptors traded him it felt like they were dickriding (Kawhi)  which no professional, especially executives, are supposed to do.  And maybe back then they could have said it was all worth it, given that they got a championship out of Leonard's brief stint with the squad.  But when Leonard left, truth be told it also set Pascal Siakim's game back, who was like his Scottie Pippen.  And I have to believe that now the Raptors are missing DeMar, considering the way Kawhi up and left them cold and how they've more or less degenerated into a garbage squad in the aftermath.

But that siad, the Bulls have been looking hella vulnerable as of late.  And I still have to believe, if healthy, that the Heat (whom Lowry currently plays for) will take the East.

NBA Minute 190420: The Next Jordan/Pippen

SHOUTOUT TO KAWHI AND PASCAL

The closest I've seen to the next Jordan/Pippen would be Kawhi/Pascal.  And I'm not even going to try to say which one is Jordan and which one is Pippen.

The question now is do they themselves believe in a dynasty?  And then it's like Toronto has to do whatever it has to do to retain Leonard, even if it's Mr. T-ing a nigga's cheeseburgers.  Kawhi is the most-effective player defensively in the entire NBA against Golden State.  And then of course you have to make sure you have the best type of roster to capitalize on that type of dual-talent, if they don't already.  Kyle Lowry, as great as he is, is only the third or fourth-best player on this team right now.

SHOUTOUT THE BROOKLYN

The Sixers turned it up a level and started busting Brooklyn's ass.  Maybe Philly really is a superteam when they're most-renowned player is sidelined, and they still perform like this.  I think Brooklyn's biggest problem is lack of depth in the middle, because at the end of the day there are more average-sized niggas that are good at basketball than giants.

SHOUTOUT TO PATRICK BEVERLY

Reportedly the Warriors petitioned the NBA to do something about Patrick Beverly's defense after losing Game 2 to the Clippers.  Their response was apparently calling more fouls on him, which got him into foul trouble in Game 3 versus the Warriors, which Golden State won.  He was assigned to Kevin Durant, who went on to be the star of game.  But the NBA never officially chastised Beverly's defense.  So that begs the question that if they actually do let Patrick play his game, can the Clippers win the series?