This year I went ahead and bought NBA League Pass. My goal is to get in one NBA game a day if the weather, technology and electricity Gods permit here in rural Colombia. Every week or 2 I’ll try to post some analysis on the Bulls and some other teams and trends I’ve found interesting. Starting today with:
The Memphis Grizzlies:
Jaren Jackson Jr. is already a monster. That kid is destined to be an absolute force in the league. On offense he makes threes at a high clip, handles the rock better than a lot of small forwards, and makes teams pay if they switch guards on to him in the post. Defensively he swats shots at an elite level and is one of the switchiest bigs in the league already. Making it all the more incredible is that he’s still a teenager. He’s on his to becoming this generations version of Chris Bosh.
I thought Brandon Clarke was a steal at #21 in the draft this year and so far so good on that call. He’s shooting 57% from the field and blocking 2.5 shots per 36 minutes. He might not have the size you want for a big, but makes up for it with truly special quick twitch athleticism. If that jump shot keeps on coming along the Grizz will have a championship level frontcourt in a couple years.
It’ll be interesting to see how Ja Morant turns out. He was my easy number 2 in the draft this year, and he’d still be there if we redid the draft today. That being said, I think I should’ve lent more credence to the scouts who were wondering how he’d adjust to not having the ball in his hands all the time and the massive difference in athleticism and strength he’d be facing in a night in night out basis. Eventually he ought to become a D’Aron Fox level point guard, but it might take a little more time than expected.
Miami Heat:
These guys play an unorthodox style that almost feels like we’re watching a late career Tom Glavine. Not a tun of raw talent, but an extremely high level of craftiness and feel for the game that rarely ever beat themselves. And are all of those lefties on purpose? Regardless Spo is doing a great job of setting up plays where he gets those guys running down hill into 5-8 foot floater range that they all seem to hit at a clip higher than you’d expect.
Miami remains my favorite potential blockbuster trade aggressor in the league right now. They have the best player in the Eastern Conference outside the top 2 teams, great coaching, some interesting young pieces, and the kind of medium sized contracts that make the math of huge trades easier, to go along with a front office and ownership that’s always in win right now mode.
Who says no to a Dion Waiters, James Johnson and Goran Dragic and a second round draft pick for Chris Paul and Danilo Gallinari deal? The Heat would immediately have the best defensive backcourt in the league with Paul and Butler. Combine that with Justice Winslow, Bam Abedayo and Spo and you’ve got all the ingredients you’d need for a top 5 defense.
Offensively Butler and Paul are capable of orchestrating top 10 offenses by themselves and could compliment each other pretty well. They’d be surrounded by a lot of plus shooters in Olynyk, Gallinari, Meyers Leonard, and Tyler Herro, as well as a hand full of guys best suited as secondary playmakers like Kendrick Nunn (!), Herro and Winslow.
There’s a lot of injury risk and money invested in two guys over 30, but with the Bucks off to a slow start, and Philly not having proved itself in the playoffs, the East might be open and Miami could strike.
For OKC I think this deal makes sense as well as they get off Paul’s contract without having to attach an asset. Obviously, Waiters and Johnson are undesirable but their contracts expire a year earlier and also could be more easily used to grease further deals. This trade will also help them tank for this year which seems like an implicit goal based off of some of Sam Presti’s comments the past few months.
I could see Miami preferring to keep its cap space for next offseason, or OKC not wanting to help Miami win as they have 2 of their future first round draft picks, but I’d argue both teams should sign off on this deal.
Bringing weapons off the bench
I found it really interesting that Spo is bringing Dragic and Olynyk off the bench. It reminds me of how Doc Rivers always has a Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford ready to go when he’s coaching. Maybe the most infamous move of Greg Popovich‘ career was having Manu Ginobli be his 6th man. Currently, he brings Derrick White and Rudy Gay, two of his five current best players, off the bench. Maybe the biggest move Steve Kerr made in Golden State was convincing Andre Iguodala to come off the bench when he first got to town.
Those might be the four most accomplished coaches in the league right now. It certainly could just be some noise, but there might be a secret boost these guys have figured out by constructing their rotations in this manner. It’s something I want to look into more in the future.
All these traveling calls are annoying
Why was this a point of emphasis? Literally, the only people who complain about traveling not getting called enough are the same losers who cry every time someone flips his bat after hitting a home run in baseball. Playing to that demographic does nothing to help the game grow with future generations. If the point was to help the defense some after the offensive explosion the last few years (and I’m not sure why they would feel compelled to do that) then they should get rid of the Illegal Defense rule all together.
The Bulls are who I (we?) thought they were
I’ve seen a lot of fans in arms over how poor of a start this team has gotten off to, but why? Coming into the season the Bulls should’ve been seen as something between the 7th and 12th worst team in the league. Fringe bottom 10 teams aren’t good enough to just go into other teams buildings and expect to win easily, even against the weakest of the weak. All the playoff hype was a product of playing in the junior conference, not the talent on hand.
It starts with the defense. It has been atrocious, but if you thought it’d be average coming into the year then you had unrealistic expectations. That being said the Bulls haven’t been as bad as they’ve looked on that end. Marvin Williams, PJ Washington, Bobby Portis and Cedí Oscan are a group of average backup power forwards who have somehow combined to go 20-27 from downtown vs. the Bulls this year. Lauri Markannan is a better player than all of them and he’s started the season 10-40 from behind the line. The old saying is “it’s a make or miss league” and the bulls have been missing while the other teams have had some pretty mediocre players explode on them. If the Bulls had average “luck” against that lot of meh Power Forwards and Lauri was shooting like he normally does the Bulls would be at least .500 and probably even better right now.
Other notes:
>>>Zach Lavine remains a huge liability defensively. Don’t let his insecure fanboy club tell you any different. There is at least one defensive possession every game where I can’t believe how bad his awareness and or effort is. That being said, I’m liking his improved shot selection thus far this season, just not to the point where the Zach Lavine All Star crowd is winning the debate over the Lavine is a 6th man crowd.
>>>Kris Dunn is so fun in this role as a 7th man. The dude plays great defense. I want him to have an average 3 point shot so badly.
>>>I thought it was really weird that Boylen had Porter playing the 4 to start second and fourth quarters next to the three guards to start the season. Porter was on a minutes restriction and is the only guy on the roster capable of giving good minutes at the 3. Additionally 2 of the 4 best players on the roster are best at the 4. In a vacuum it makes sense to give Otto sometime at the 4, but it was kind of head scratching with how this roster is constructed.
>>>If Valentine really isn’t capable of earning a spot in the rotation, then the Bulls should have Satoransky play with some of those 3 guard units. He’s the only one of the 5 guards the Bulls use to have the size and defensive chops to guard other teams 3s. Get Archy in the game earlier where his skill set goes well with the Bulls other starters and have Sato start the second quarter.
>>>Despite being nailed to the bench thus far I like Denzel’s attitude. He’s been showing good body language when Coby White has had stretches where he’s impressed.
>>>I wish the Bulls would run a 5 and out with Lauri and Thaddeus Young more. Sure you might not have much rim protection, but you could switch everything. I think the Bulls’ best lineups this year will have these two up front.
>>>My hottest take: Between Lavine being overrated, Lauri stagnating from his rookie season, Carter not being able to shoot and “anchoring” the worst rebounding team in the league, and Coby White not being able to even put up 4 assists/36 minutes, the best long term prospect on the Bulls is their 2020 1st round draft pick.
Bulls NBA HQ 