AROUND the NBA:

[HoosierDaddyKid]

These playoffs are getting real interesting. Wolves blow out the Nuggets, 113-96. Joker has one of the worst games I can remember from him. 7-26 from the field, 2-10 from 3. Toronto ended a 12-game playoff losing streak vs Cleveland, 126-104, as Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett scored 33 pts apiece. And Atlanta wins another 1-point game, 109-108, and goes up 2-1 vs the Knicks behind the second in a row game-winning shot by CJ McCollum. They also got a big boost from Jonathan Kuminga off the bench.

[Chicagojk]

Hawks had an excellent trade deadline.    I expect the KNicks to win a tough series still, but the Hawks are definitely stating their case.   

Hawks are much better than the Mavs and are at a different stage of their development, but I laugh when I hear the Mavs can't have any older players when rebuilding and then turning on the tv and seeing 34 year old McCollum make the game winning basket.   In today's basketball, you don't need a full team of 22 year old if your are rebuilding.   

As far as the Knicks goes, they may win a series or two but they don't feel like a contender.  If they lose in round 1, Mike Brown may be a 1 and done.    Never understood that hire.  Mike Brown is a lifer and a solid coach.  Not the coach I would want to try to win a championship.

[Chicagojk]

These playoffs are getting real interesting. Wolves blow out the Nuggets, 113-96. Joker has one of the worst games I can remember from him. 7-26 from the field, 2-10 from 3. Toronto ended a 12-game playoff losing streak vs Cleveland, 126-104, as Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett scored 33 pts apiece. And Atlanta wins another 1-point game, 109-108, and goes up 2-1 vs the Knicks behind the second in a row game-winning shot by CJ McCollum.  They also got a big boost from Jonathan Kuminga off the bench.

I expect the Nuggets to win that series but it is much more in doubt now.   I was not a fan of the Gobert trade, but I think it has to be noted Minny has played Denver well and Gobert deserves some credit too.   Minny has been two two WCF.  I didn't consider them one of the two best teams but they made it.    May have made a finals too if it wasn't for Luka and the machine that is OKC.

[Chicagojk]

Shams Charania: BREAKING: The Milwaukee Bucks and Taylor Jenkins are finalizing a deal to make Jenkins the franchise's new head coach, sources tell me and @ramonashelburne. Jenkins, a Bucks assistant in 2018-19, went 250-214 and made three postseasons across six seasons in Memphis.

I was surprised when he was hired in Memphis.  Thought he did a good job there but things went off the tracks pretty quickly there.   He seems like a solid coach for a team looking for development.    

Are they keeping the GM though?  He has had his chance.  They won the title and he can live off that, but he has done very little right since then.    I would not be having that GM make the coaching hire.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I expect the Nuggets to win that series but it is much more in doubt now.   I was not a fan of the Gobert trade, but I think it has to be noted Minny has played Denver well and Gobert deserves some credit too.   Minny has been two two WCF.  I didn't consider them one of the two best teams but they made it.    May have made a finals too if it wasn't for Luka and the machine that is OKC.

T-Wolves match up well with them. They knocked them out of the playoffs two years ago. Gobert harassed Joker into a bad shooting night. He's still a factor on defense, and he may still be miffed he finished 4th behind Wemby, Chet, and Ausar Thompson. And Ayo Dosunmu (25 pts off the bench) was a great pickup to replace Nickeil Alexander-Walker.

[Chicagojk]

These playoffs are getting real interesting. Wolves blow out the Nuggets, 113-96. Joker has one of the worst games I can remember from him. 7-26 from the field, 2-10 from 3. Toronto ended a 12-game playoff losing streak vs Cleveland, 126-104, as Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett scored 33 pts apiece. And Atlanta wins another 1-point game, 109-108, and goes up 2-1 vs the Knicks behind the second in a row game-winning shot by CJ McCollum.  They also got a big boost from Jonathan Kuminga off the bench.

I don't particularly like the Raptors team and think they have a hard time really jumping to a contender level, but it looks like they made a good pick in CMB.  I thought at the time the Duke Center was the better option.  Maybe that turns out to be true, but CMB looks legit.  I have seen him a few times this year and he really impressed me.

[dirkfansince1998]

Nuggets are paying for some really questionable roster building decisions. Basically downgraded every single year since they won the championship. MPJ/Cam Johnson trade was a disaster. Braun contract was a big mistake. They couldn't afford to resign a number solid roleplayers for tax/cap reasons. Murray's contract is unlikely to age well. And the way it looks they will have to shed salary again this summer.
Teams losing contributors after a championship run is pretty normal but Nuggets (and Bucks, similar story) messed up big time.

[Chicagojk]

Nuggets are paying for some really questionable roster building decisions. Basically downgraded every single year since they won the championship. MPJ/Cam Johnson trade was a disaster. Braun contract was a big mistake. They couldn't afford to resign a number solid roleplayers for tax/cap reasons. Murray's contract is unlikely to age well. And the way it looks they will have to shed salary again this summer.
Teams losing contributors after a championship run is pretty normal but Nuggets (and Bucks, similar story) messed up big time.

I was one who really liked their moves.  I liked the flexiblity of moving to a slightly less talented player in Cam from MPJ.    I also thought the depth would help.   So far, it hasn't worked.   I thought MPJ injury concerns really worried me.   Maybe it is a Denver thing?    

I still would like to see a healthy Denver team.  Unfortunately, Gordon as talented as he is, is on a multiple year run of being injured when the playoffs arrive.   Watson being hurt as well is also a downer.    

Any team with Jokic is a threat but they are in a tricky spot with a few western teams who look primed to really be tough the next several years.

[Mavs2021]

Oh look KD ruined another team.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4858...red-moment
https://x.com/ByVarunShankar/status/2047851325904298237

Can't fault KD for this one, even though he wasn't on the Rockets bench. The Rockets don't know how to close out games.
Epic collapse.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/ESPNInsights/status/2047886943753470166

Rockets had a 97% of winning, up six with 34 seconds left in regulation.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/LawMurrayTheNU/status/2047886436943495571


Fun fact with a Mavs flavor.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7224940...fs-game-3/


The unlikely duo of Kuminga and McCollum has the Hawks in position to upset
the Knicks.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://bsky.app/profile/btrowland.bsky....bmtr5wlc2t


NAW wins MIP award. Second in a row for a Hawks player.
Dyson Daniels won last year.

[Chicagojk]

Man the rockets have gone from one of the promising young teams to a dumpster fire. They still have assets and young players but may be stuck into making a win now trade in a conference with teams better positioned. Things change quick in the nba. I assume changes are coming somewhere.

[Mavs2021]

Man the rockets have gone from one of the promising young teams to a dumpster fire.  They still have assets and young players but may be stuck into making a win now trade in a conference with teams better positioned.  Things change quick in the nba.  I assume changes are coming somewhere.

Juist dump KD to some dumb franchise. You get FVV and Adams back, build around Sengun and Thompson.

[DanSchwartzgan]

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7224940...fs-game-3/


The unlikely duo of Kuminga and McCollum has the Hawks in position to upset
the Knicks.

Two notes related to Dallas.  I suspect by the end of next season Flagg will be better than Johnson if he isn't already.  Atlanta isn't in this position because of the strength of a singular star and they don't have a second star.

Much like Dallas did when it added PJ and Gafford that year, Atlanta has added some guys who are a bit better than replacement level (that most of us wouldn't have wanted if polled at the TDL).  You wouldn't create that team in a lab if given the choice.  Okongwu is too small.  Daniels can't hit from 3.  McCollum is too old and makes too much money.  They are getting absolutely nothing from their recent draft picks.

But, as a group, this is working right now.  The team is +14.8 when Kuminga is on the floor and + 9.8 when McCollum is on the floor.  Those ended up being nice adds basically off the scrap heap.  Not impossible for Dallas to replicate.  Two years ago they made a trade for an offensively limited Daniels.  They gave up an injured PG, a Laker first and a fake first (worst of).  We have those too.  It helped that NOP didn't want to pay (or couldn't afford to pay) Daniels.

Last summer they grabbed NAW for a second round pick.  Again, the prior team didn't want to or couldn't afford to pay the player, but Atlanta did.  We have that kind of flexibility over the next year or two.  I think there is a path back to relevance and, as we've seen with Atlanta, it doesn't require nailing every single move.  It does require at least some of the moves going better than most of us would have imagined when the moves were made.

[dirkfansince1998]

Grizzlies gave up two first round picks for Smart in 2023. Attached a first round pick to get rid of him at the deadline in 2025. Probably thought that with nagging injury issues his career was more or less over.
One year later he is the best player on the floor in a first round series against the Rockets. Absolutely killing it on both ends.

Should also mention the coaching battle. Redick is running circles around Udoka. Rockets have no real half court offense. Whoever is guarding Thompson can play free safety (more often than not Smart) and double Durant (first two games) or Sengun. Lakers are paying for it in the rebounding battle because it basically leaves one or two Rockets unassigned but down the line rebounding alone isn't enough to make up for the glaring difference in shot quality.

[F Gump]

 Should also mention the coaching battle. Redick is running circles around Udoka. 

Great point. I think too much focus has been given to the Rox failures, and not enough on what LA is doing. 

Despite (or maybe because of) their many flaws, this season LA has learned to play through adversity at a fairly high level. It doesn't matter to them who isn't playing - they just put on their hard hat and go to work.

If they get healthy before the road gets too steep, they will be a very tough out. They may get to the OKC series before Luka is ready, but if he can arrive in time, it could be a very entertaining series. OKC may have their hands full.

[rocky164]

I really dislike LeBron. For me he is the poster child for self entitled athletes. But has any 40+ year old player ever put up playoff numbers like he has in these 3 games? Abdul-Jabbar?