Exclusive AROUND THE NBA, JANUARY 2022, IT'S A NEW YEAR YES IT IS! EDITION

Not really. I haven't been a big Trae Young fan. Ja Morant is more fun to watch and his improvement this year has been outstanding.

 

I wasn't really clear on the particulars of that trade. Looks like the Celtics traded Kanter and a 1st, that 30th pick, for future two 2nds and clearing Kanter's salary. Grizz traded the two 2nds for that 1st, and Hezonja who they waived 2 weeks later

I guess every team got what they wanted out of that 3-team deal. Kanter gave Portland 11 & 11 for 72 games; 17 & 16 per36. Memphis sure got the upside part of that trade though. Bane is a real 3&D wing. He has shot 42.5% on three's while shooting 5 a game. Real solid player on both ends of the floor

Celtics paid a 1st to clear Kanter's 5M salary. That actually kept them out of the tax last season. I suppose that was a good deal for them

 

22. Portland Trail Blazers
Current record: 17-25

Previous ranking: 26

Garage sale, make your best offer. With Damian Lilard’s return this season looking questionable, C.J. McCollum’s own injury troubles, and a 17–25 record, Portland clearly needs to be looking to retool. The Dame-CJ pair hit its ceiling a while ago, and perhaps no roster is in bigger need of a reset. The Blazers don’t have to give up on Lillard or on contending with him. Moving basically all the vets (Jusuf Nurkic and Robert Covington are on trade-friendly expiring deals) and executing a one-year tank could reload this team very quickly in time for as early as next season. At the very least, give Lillard a fresh start with a new cast next year instead of letting him hit his head against the wall with the current group.

https://www.si.com/nba/2022/01/17/nba-power-rankings-trade-deadline-buyers-and-sellers

 

Indiana Pacers and Portland Trail Blazers
Quantity may be limited in terms of sellers, but this trade deadline makes up for it in terms of quality. The Indiana Pacers and Portland Trail Blazers, between them, have and are likely shopping virtually every type of player a winner could want. Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner and Jusuf Nurkic check almost every box at center between the three of them. Covington is the coveted 3-and-D wing, though he's really more of a help defender. Warren is a lottery ticket. Norman Powell is a 3-point-oriented perimeter scorer, Caris LeVert is a 2-point-oriented perimeter scorer. There's even a chance, albeit a fairly limited one, that a true superstar in Damian Lillard becomes available between now and deadline day. Buyers have theoretical access to anything they might need on the trade market. It's just concentrated on fewer sellers.

But the fact that there are so few sellers gives the two biggest ones an inordinate amount of power over the bigger number of sellers. Teams interested in centers, for example, can't leverage the teams holding Turner and Sabonis against one another because one team has both. Those two teams are also fairly rare among sellers in that they both have delusions of grandeur … or at least adequacy. When Orlando dealt half of its roster last season, it did so for picks and young players exclusively.

There's not much evidence suggesting that these teams prioritize the same things. Portland still appears desperate to put a winner around Lillard even without a permanent GM in place. Indiana simply never tanks. The Pacers have made the playoffs in all but seven seasons since 1989. That's a stat the franchise takes great pride in. It might not make for particularly effective long-term roster-building, but Indiana would likely prefer to retool rather than rebuild. Portland appears to be in the same boat.

That puts contenders in a rather interesting position. Are they willing to sacrifice core players for upgrades rather than draft picks? Would those teams even view the players Indiana and Portland has to offer as major upgrades if they have to give up win-now assets to get them? These are philosophical questions that every team is going to answer differently, but it creates a pretty unusual atmosphere for deal-making. The sort of trade chips that typically get deals done around this time of year might not be the ones that matter in 2022.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nb...under-will-dominate-the-rumor-mill/ar-AASRXV3

 

So, we are above average at offensive efficiency?

 

Miss that kid. He was such a great BBIQ, high motor prospect.

 

Bol Bol is the first domino to fall! Hold onto one’s undergarments…

 

They are DETERMINED to trade Bol Bol.

 

what is Boston doing? This doesn't clear that much salary for them. I guess it saves some tax money

 

I kind of get the impression Denver is trying to do him a favor of sorts. I think Bol Bol needs to go somewhere he can sniff the court?
This season he's only played a grand total of 81 minutes.

 

Jason Kidd and the Mavs stand out.
BuT YoU CaN’t HiRe HiM

 

Larry Miller made the NYTimes for killing someone, and getting a hug for it:
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/18/...te=1&user_id=bbb1fe46d1b215a405db9d68eb88fac6

 

some players are just delusional

 

We probably would have done this differently if we had known Lillard would miss most of the season.

 

This is pretty wild.