If it hasn't been said already, I'm saying it now. Be careful making predictions based on the teams you're watching on TV these days. Between COVID protocols, injury absences, and general coaching strategies to rest vets, todays teams will not be the same teams you see after the NBA All-Star break. For example, the Denver Nuggets and the Miami Heat will be far more impressive once the playoff push begins. I am basing this on the season getting back to normal as vaccines become more available and all the teams get their full rosters free of injuries on the court.
I'm sure the pundits are noticing, but if they're not, the Sacramento Kings 12th pick in last years draft, Tyrese Haliburton, looks like he should have been a #1 or #2 selection based on his performance so far this season. I'm seeing a lot of Andre Igudala genes in him, that is he consistently makes clutch plays and clutch shots. And I love his calm. Leadership written all over him.
On the subject of the Kings, Marvin Bagely lll, even while he is improving and is certainly working harder, remains a question mark. He seems physically weak to me. For the future of the Kings, he needs to be a stretch 3. It is the one position on the court the Kings are lacking. If they had one this season with Harrison Barnes in a good place and playing extremely well at the 4, the Kings, led by a dynamic (Nate Archibald clone) DeAaron Fox, would have a strong chance of making the playoffs. But the absence of a solid 3 is a hole in their team that must be filled before they can get to that playoff level.
Back to the draft: James Wiseman of the Warriors still remains in my mind the best long term impact pick of last years draft. Go Dubs!
It was said before the draft that it was not going to be such a great year for rookies. I think the rooks are proving the pundits wrong. Ball and Edwards, for example, look like the real deal. So does Achewa of the Heat.
About the future draft, I recently watched Cad Cunningham, supposedly numero uno in next years draft. Word is he's the next Jason Tatum. Cad is good, but I don't think he's that explosive. Need to check on the other possibilities. The same evaluators who said last year's draftees were not going to be strong, are predicting this years players are much better.
Is anyone wondering where the Timberwolves will wind up after center Carl Anthony Towns returns? (Hopefully in a good frame of mind and ball ready) The wolves have found a really solid back up center and Edwards is the answer to their lack of an impact stretch 3. Kid can light it up. Can they get better on D? I'm hoping. Don't ask me why, but I have a soft sport for the Timberwolves since they got Ricky Rubio, and now he's back to end his career where he started.
Can the Nets get better on D? Big Q. It is well documented by now that you can't go far in the playoffs without a solid defense..
Finally, what's the deal with Durant? I'm a little worried about where his head is since he left the Warriors. Am I mistaken, or is there a kind of arrogance or poutishness that wasn't there before. HisTweet Free Me, for example, sounds like a spoiled teenager. Comparing the NBA's strict COVID19 policy to a Wack ass PR tactic, is profoundly ignorant of the seriousness of this world pandemic. We're just lucky the NBA has been able to give us games at all. So, Kevin, put on your big boy pants and do some thinking.
Instead of a poem, I'm going to end my blog with a suggestion. Do yourselves a favor folks. Go on line and find an editorial essay written by Leonard Pitts Jr of the Miami Herald called It is Different Being Us published in my newspaper The Sacramento Bee today, Monday 8th, 2021. It is Back History Month and what Mr. Pitts has to say and how he says it will inform your lives. I promise you. .
