Brandon Garland and James McNeill go one-on-one answering this week’s questions.
1) What is the worst contract currently on a lottery team?
Brandon: Joe Johnson will make $21,466,718 this season. As immensely high as this is, Johnson at least gets 16.5 PPG and does some productive things, such as hitting 10 3s against the Sixers a few days ago. On the other hand, Amar’e Stoudemire’s $21,679,893 is absolutely unwarranted. He only gets 7.7 PPG and 3.6 RPG, both career lows, to go along with 18 minutes per game. The fact that a non-starter is the third-highest paid player in the league is absurd, especially a non-starter who has been as irrelevant as Amar’e has been this year. If he was movable, he’d unquestionably be moved.
James: Javale McGee for me. He is getting paid $10.75, $11.25, and $12 million the next three years while he is only contributing 7 PPG and 3.4 RPG. He plays undisciplined and is taking up salary cap space on a rebuilding team.
2) Choose any lottery player who deserves some love.
Brandon: Most Improved Player candidate John Henson is flying under the radar quite a bit this year, despite being in the top 30 in PER and top 5 in blocks per game. With more than double last year’s playing time, Henson has more than doubled his points and blocks (12.3 from 6.0 in points and 2.2 from .7 in blocks). He has added some muscle, but that is one major area that he still needs to work on. He has done well in increasing his post moves, improving his hook shots, and boxing out better. If Henson continues at this level, the Bucks may have a hard time keeping him out of the starting lineup, even with a Larry Sanders return.
James: Shout out to Mike Conley Jr, the Memphis point guard who has picked up the slack for the struggling Grizzlies. Conley has career highs in scoring (18.2), FG % (47.9%), and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.32). His play is keeping the Grizz from completely falling behind.
3) Will the Memphis Grizzlies make the playoffs?
Brandon: The Western Conference is unbelievably superior, top to bottom, than their Eastern counterparts. If Memphis were an Eastern Conference team, they’d be a playoff team for sure. Unfortunately they aren’t, and they won’t be. The squad itself isn’t weak, with Mike Conley, Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol, plus underrated defensive maestro Tony Allen. Unfortunately, their biggest rivals for the 7th and 8th seeds, Denver, Minnesota, Golden State, perhaps Los Angeles, New Orleans and Phoenix, are all better teams. The Grizzlies, while not a playoff team, will be nicely setup for a lottery pick in a loaded class and will have some financial room in the offseason.
James: Defense eventually shows through, and this team will start to win in some of these close-game situations. They would also benefit from increased scoring from their frontcourt and bench players. The return of Marc Gasol should also help this team at least sneak in.
4) Which out of the Knicks and Nets are most likely to stay in the lottery?
Brandon: Personally, I never believed the Nets hype, which called them a threat to the Heat’s Eastern reign. At the same time, I assumed that both they and their city-sharing rivals, the Knicks, would make the playoffs, despite being fakers as for the NBA title. Fortunately even though both have had horrible starts, they play in the worst division in basketball. Plus, they do have talent unquestionably better than each and every team above them, all the way to the currently 4th-seeded Boston Celtics. I don’t see either team remaining in the lottery, but if one does, I’d say the Knicks are a bit more likely. Melo is, though immensely talented, a ball-hog and not always the one with the highest basketball IQ. They also have more question marks, like if Shumpert will stay on the team and who should play the PG. But as stated earlier, I expect both to make the Playoffs.
James: The Nets have more talent and less injuries than a terrible Knicks squad led by world-beaters such as Raymond Felton, J.R. Smith, and Amar’e Stoudemire. The veteran leadership that the Nets acquired will also help down the stretch.
[polldaddy poll=7564649]By Brandon Garland and James McNeill
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