NBA Three For All: The State Of The Association

Today’s world is made up of quick shots. The espresso your barista puts in your morning coffee is designed to do the job quickly, setting you up for a successful, if not jittery day. Quick one line tweets can get a point across either snidely or to educate an audience. Urgent and rapid NBA offenses take long threes and craft quick hitting schemes to get the shot that they want with little delay.

Among other things, the immediacy of today’s society requires, and challenges us, to be brief yet effective in all things. Like we are living in a Mike D’Antoni orchestrated scheme in which we have seven seconds or less to be impactful.

That’s the goal here, where I will take a look at all 30 NBA teams and encapsulate the state of the franchise in three sentences. I’ve also taken the liberty of splitting the league into groups.  Roll the ball out. Let’s go.

Group I: Finals Appearance Contenders

• Golden State Warriors – They’re figuring it out much quicker than we thought they would. Still haven’t peaked while they continue to tweak things. Big runs happen quickly to bury opponents.

• San Antonio Spurs – Even without Timmy, they’re still the Spurs. Pau Gasol’s injury hurts, but shouldn’t matter long term. Kawhi Leonard is the second best player on the planet.

• Houston Rockets – Losing Dwight was addition by subtraction. D’Antoni should be Coach Of The Year, and Harden MVP. They’re a legitimate threat to GSW in the West.

• Cleveland Cavaliers – They need either a big to protect the rim, or a point guard behind Kyrie to be a real threat to GSW. Limited assets make it difficult to do that. Still, they’re the best team in the East.

• Utah Jazz – They do some really exotic stuff on offense. Gordon Hayward is cementing his status as a star, and Rudy Gobert is a top five NBA center.  Alec Burks being healthy would be a huge deal for them.

• Toronto Raptors – Kyle Lowry is the East’s best point guard, and nobody knows it. After a hot start, DeRozan has slowed down a bit, but is still a potent and capable scorer. Adding a big that can stretch the floor and pass is of paramount importance.

Group II: One Guy Away 

• LA Clippers – Injuries are killing them again. After a hot start, a regression to the mean told us what they really are. A trade deadline shakeup could be in the offing.

• Atlanta Hawks – Dwight has been quiet despite not getting post touches. Dennis Schroder has grown into a borderline All-Star with no real ceiling. Questions about the end of their rotation keep them from really being a scary playoff opponent.

• Oklahoma City Thunder – Russ is a tornado made of chainsaws wrecking house around the league despite not being super efficient. Andre Roberson represents a weak spot on both ends. Steven Adams is quickly becoming a versatile, elite NBA big.

• Boston Celtics – The defense has been surprisingly terrible, even with a healthy Avery Bradley. Isaiah Thomas can score with the best of them and is turning into a superstar. They’ll try to move their lotto picks for a stud, but I don’t see anything coming to fruition.

Group III: Nobody Wants To See These Guys In Round One

• Memphis Grizzlies – Despite getting nothing from Parsons, and missing Mike Conley for a long stretch, they’re still really good. Randolph’s move to the bench has worked well because he embraced it and Jaymichael Green is a very solid player. If Parsons gets healthy enough this spring, they’ll be a tough out.

• Washington Wizards –  John Wall is a complete stud and total terror in the open floor. Together with Beal, The Wiz boast the best back court in the NBA. Head coach Scott Brooks is piecing together a dangerous rotation as pieces start to fit.

• Milwaukee Bucks – Giannis is a top five NBA player and getting better. Jabari Parker is turning into a complete player and scoring threat while improving defensively. Kris Middleton’s return will represent an opportunity for them to make a late season push as they unleash the full breadth of their versatility on both ends.

• Charlotte Hornets – Its going down, I’m yelling KEEEMMMMBBBBAAAA. Batum’s versatility on both ends thrives in Steve Clifford’s schemes, and they’re great when he handles some play making duties. Kidd-Gilchrist and Frank Kaminsky are developing nicely, and make this team very dangerous in a slashing half court.

Group IV: I’m Not Mad, I’m Disappointed

• Indiana Pacers – The new pieces haven’t come together like we thought they might. A muddled back court with too many ball dominant players is a problem. Myles Turner is turning into Amare Stoudemire, and it is high time you took notice.

• Detroit Pistons – Missing Reggie Jackson for two months stunted their development after an encouraging 2015-16 season. No true scoring threat hurts them when they need a bucket and don’t know who to look to. Drummond must develop as a scoring threat for this team to ever matter.

• Portland Trailblazers – Off-season spending on strange puzzle pieces has proven difficult to figure out. Terry Stotts is really smart, though, so they’ll nail it down. Still a joy to watch offensively, the defense is a horror film.

• New Orleans Pelicans – It is difficult to be too hard on them given their injury problems, but this is hard to watch. Anthony Davis continues to dazzle, as well as be a mystery in terms of his availability on a nightly basis. Since returning to the lineup, Jrue Holiday has been tremendous, and continues to be an undervalued NBA point guard.

Group V: Pleasant Surprises/Over-Achievers

• Denver Nuggets – Wilson Chandler is enjoying a really fun renaissance season. Nikola Jokic is the best passing big man in the game, and pairs it with crafty Antawn Jamison-esque post moves from seemingly impossible angles. Rookie guard Jamal Murray can score whenever he feels like it, and is developing as a play maker along side Emmanuel Mudiay.

• Philadelphia 76ers – Joel Embiid is everything I wanted him to be and more and is nearly unguardable. Coach Brown’s guys play hard every night, and are often in position to win late. Somewhere, Sam Hinkie is smiling.

Group VI: The Walking Dead

• Chicago Bulls – Jimmy G Buckets (the “G” is for “gets”) continues to develop as an elite wing talent in the league. Dwyane Wade is starting to show his age, and appears frustrated. The Rondo Thing is a disaster, and poisoning a roster already rife with personnel, chemistry, and fit issues.

• New York Knicks – Blind adherence to an offense based in NBA antiquity is holding them back. Trading Melo and allowing King Kristaps to thrive is the only logical move here. They’re still the Same Old Knicks, and things are getting worse as opposed to better.

• Sacramento Kings – Somehow competing for the eighth seed in the West, they get up for good teams and fall short against very beatable ones. DeMarcus Cousins is as offensively gifted as any big since Olajuwan, but a threat to go Full Vesuvious at any time. The franchise has no identity, and sneaking into the playoffs won’t change that with the current front office dynamic of endorsed incompetence.

• Dallas Mavericks – Harrison Barnes has been great in his new role as The Guy. Missing Dirk for long stretches at a time has hurt, but at his age his effectiveness is limited. Time to blow it up and start over?

Group VII: They Are What I Thought They Were

• Minnesota Timberwolves – I never understood the playoff hype here. A great young core is being wasted by the lack of a veteran presence with winning experience. In addition to that, they need Wiggins to be a more complete player to be any sort of real threat on a nightly basis.

• Orlando Magic – An over-crowded front court made up of square pegs and round holes holds them back. So does the lack of a pure scorer. Seems like a good time to take the kid gloves off of Hezonja and let him get some extended run with Payton and Gordon to see what they have going forward.

• Miami Heat – Their mishandling of the Wade and Bosh situations are an uncharacteristic embarrassment for Pat Riley. Hassan Whiteside and Goran Dragic have been terrific, but not enough to keep a roster of role players afloat at the bottom of the East. The new CBA will make it hard for Riles and Spo to reload the way they are accustomed to, so blowing this thing up, starting with Dragic, seems like the only path back to relevance.

• Brooklyn Nets – Brook Lopez knocking down triples is fun and all, but ultimately means nothing. Sean Kilpatrick has been a revelation with his Attack-At-All-Costs mentality, but missing Jeremy Lin holds him back. Not a ton to be hopeful for since they mortgaged their future a few years back.

Group VIII: Light At The End Of The Tunnel

• Phoenix Suns – Bender, Booker, and Chriss look like they’ll be the real deal as a solid young core to provide hope to PHX faithful. Eric Bledsoe represents both their best player (by miles) and their most valuable trade asset to accelerate the rebuilding process. Having said that, Tyson Chandler, while an important veteran presence, seems most likely to be moved by the deadline.

• Los Angeles Lakers – Coach Luke Walton has done a great job, even though the team has regressed to the mean after a fun and encouraging start. Julius Randle is turning into Draymond Green 2.0, as Walton uses him as a versatile asset offensively. While I don’t understand the fascination with Brandon Ingram, the raw talent is impossible to ignore, no matter how much he reminds me of Darius Miles.