Community Shootaround

The 2022 NBA draft is officially complete, and it was certainly an eventful night. The first big surprise came right off the bat, when the Magic made Duke big man Paolo Banchero the No. 1 overall pick.

Virtually all reporting leading up to draft night had Auburn forward Jabari Smith as the favorite to go first, with ESPN’s Jonathan Givony suggesting earlier this week that it would be a major surprise to most teams around the NBA if Smith wasn’t Orlando’s pick.

Since Smith unexpectedly fell to the Rockets with the No. 3 pick, and they were able to pick up a couple of highly regarded prospects in Tari Eason and TyTy Washington at Nos. 17 and 29 in addition to a couple of future second-rounders, they seem like one of the clear winners tonight. Smith and Eason, in particular, are long, versatile defenders who should immediately improve Houston’s 29th ranked defense, and a core of Kevin Porter Jr., Jalen Green, Eason, Smith, and Alperen Sengun sounds pretty intriguing on paper.

The Thunder used a small portion of their war chest of future draft picks to acquire a third lottery pick, used on French forward Ousmane Dieng with the No. 11 pick (via the Knicks). In addition to Dieng, the Oklahoma City snagged Chet Holmgren at No. 2, Jalen Williams at No. 12, and Jaylin Williams at No. 34 (that definitely won’t be confusing).

The Pistons were able to take Jaden Ivey at No. 5, widely regarded as the top guard prospect in the draft, and added a second lottery pick (No. 13 via the Hornets) in Jalen Duren. The Grizzlies and Timberwolves were both very active during the draft as well, maneuvering up and down to select their preferred targets.

Despite rumors that they were interested in moving into the draft, both the Suns and the Jazz left the draft the same way they entered it, with no draft picks. The Sixers traded out of the draft, but landed 24-year-old De’Anthony Melton from Memphis for the No. 23 pick and Danny Green.

There will be a flurry of undrafted free agent signings in the coming hours and days, but we’d like to take a break from transactions for a moment to solicit your opinions on the draft’s winners and losers. Which teams do you think did the best? Which did the worst? Head to the comments section and share your thoughts!

Monday’s report stating that Nikola Jokic will win this season’s Most Valuable Player award means that Sixers center Joel Embiid will likely finish as the runner-up in MVP voting for a second straight year. It also means there’s a real chance Embiid could end up on the All-NBA Second Team for a second consecutive year, despite ostensibly being the league’s second-most valuable player.

Unlike the NBA’s All-Star teams, which call for two guards and three frontcourt players, or its All-Rookie teams, which are positionless, the All-NBA squads require voters to select two guards, two forwards, and one center. This means that only one of Jokic or Embiid is in position to make the All-NBA First Team, since both are centers.

This season, the league made Jokic and Embiid eligible at forward as well as center, despite the fact that no reasonable NBA fan could argue that either player spent any real time at power forward this season. The decision is a concession to voters who feel that both players must be on the All-NBA First Team, allowing those voters to essentially disregard positions by listing one of Jokic or Embiid at forward instead of center.

However, it’s a half-measure and one that will likely result in some messy voting results, since a player’s position for All-NBA purposes is the one where he receives the most votes. For instance, let’s say Jokic receives 80 First Team votes (60 as a center and 20 as a forward) and 20 Second Team (as a center) votes, while Embiid receives 60 First Team votes (40 as a center and 20 as a forward) and 40 Second Team votes (as a center).

In that scenario, the result would be the same as last year’s: Jokic would be the All-NBA First Team center, while Embiid would be the Second Team center, even if he has more points than one of the top two forwards, since 80 of his 100 votes came at center, not forward.

In order to have a shot at making the First Team as a forward, Embiid would need over half his voters to list him at forward. And in order for that to happen, at least half of the 100 voters would have to be willing to essentially disregard positions and would have to decide as a group which of the two star centers they’ll list as a forward.

In the grand scheme of things, a spot on the All-NBA Second Team vs. First Team isn’t a big deal, but it’s something we’ll look at down the road when comparing players’ career résumés. The league was willing to make a change to its All-Star voting to reduce the likelihood of an undeserving player making the cut or a deserving player missing out — should it do the same for its All-NBA vote?

We want to know what you think. Are you in favor of keeping the system the way it is, taking the All-Star approach (three frontcourt players instead of two forwards and a center), or removing positions from the equations entirely and asking voters to just select the season’s top 15 players?

If you had a ballot this year, would you have listed one of Jokic or Embiid at forward, or do you like the idea of sticking to the proper positions and putting one of them on the Second Team?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

It has been 10 days since the NBA’s 2022 playoffs tipped off, and 15 of 16 teams that made the first round are still alive. The one playoff team whose season is over? The Nets, viewed by many fans, league observers, and oddsmakers as the championship favorites coming into the 2021/22 campaign.

While a handful of other clubs are on the verge of elimination, Brooklyn is the only one that was swept out of the playoffs. As a No. 7 seed, the Nets weren’t the title favorites entering the playoffs, but their swift elimination is a reminder that the battle for the 2022 crown remains wide open.

The early results in the Western Conference have provided another reminder of the unpredictable nature of this year’s postseason. The Suns and Grizzlies were the NBA’s two most dominant teams during the regular season, but they now found themselves tied up at 2-2 against a pair of play-in teams, the Pelicans and Timberwolves. Devin Booker is injured for Phoenix and Ja Morant isn’t at 100% for Memphis, but the fact that both clubs are fighting for their playoff lives in the first round is still a surprise.

The Warriors have looked like the best team in the West early in the playoffs, though their Game 4 loss to the Nuggets showed they’re not exactly unbeatable either. The Mavericks, meanwhile, hold a 3-2 lead over the Jazz despite not having All-NBA guard Luka Doncic available until Game 4 — with a healthy Doncic, they look like a threat to make some noise beyond the first round, but they’ll have to get past Utah first.

In the East, the Heat and Bucks briefly looked vulnerable after losing Kyle Lowry and Khris Middleton, respectively, but they’ve since reasserted control over the Hawks and Bulls and hold 3-1 series leads. Miami and Milwaukee remain strong threats to make deep postseason runs, especially if they get their injured stars back sooner rather than later.

The Sixers looked like they were putting all together during the first three games of their series vs. the Raptors, but after two straight losses, they’re no longer even a lock to get out of the first round. Up 3-2, Philadelphia remains a strong favorite to get past Toronto, but Joel Embiid‘s thumb injury is clearing bothering him, and James Harden hasn’t been at his best in the series, averaging 18.4 PPG on 37.3% shooting. If their two superstars aren’t in peak form, the 76ers’ upside is limited.

Unlike the Sixers, the Celtics didn’t take their foot off the gas pedal during their four-game sweep of Brooklyn. Boston looked like the best team in the Eastern Conference in the second half and has carried that success into the playoffs. They’ll have to make sure they don’t get rusty during their current layoff as they prepare for what will likely be a matchup with the defending champs.

Ten days into the postseason, we want to know what you think. Which teams do you expect to meet in the NBA Finals? Have your picks changed at all based on what you’ve seen in the last week-and-a-half? Are there any lower seeds you like as sleepers to make the conference finals, or high seeds you think are in real trouble?

Head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts on the playoffs!

With the play-in tournament in the rearview mirror, the NBA playoffs officially begin on Saturday. There are a lot of intriguing first-round matchups and we could see quite of few of them reach the seven-game limit.

Let’s take a quick look at all eight series:

Eastern Conference

• No. 1 Heat vs. No. 8 Hawks — Miami’s defense will be tested by the brilliance of Trae Young, whose second-half performance against Cleveland on Friday carried his team into the postseason. Both centers — Bam Adebayo (protocols), Clint Capela (knee) — are question marks heading into the series.
• No. 2 Celtics vs. No. 7 Nets — The Celtics were the best team in the East during the second half of the season but the knee injury to Robert Williams makes them more vulnerable. It’s a matchup of high-scoring duos — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown vs. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving — making this must-see TV.
• No. 3 Bucks vs. No. 6 Bulls — Chicago won’t have Lonzo Ball but it still has a formidable trio in DeMar DeRozan, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic. Of course, the defending champs have their own Big 3 in Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday.
• No. 4 Sixers vs. No. 5 Raptors — Joel Embiid won the scoring title and Philadelphia acquired James Harden to make a deep run. The Raptors were much sharper than the Sixers down the stretch behind Pascal Siakam and rookie Scottie Barnes.

Western Conference

• No. 1 Suns vs. No. 8 Pelicans — Phoenix deserves to be the favorite to come out of the West again after cruising to the league’s best record. New Orleans is happy to get here after a woeful start and going without Zion Williamson all season. Can CJ McCollum match Devin Booker in the scoring column?
• No. 2 Grizzlies vs. No. 7 Timberwolves — Ja Morant says he’s ready to go after a late-season injury scare. Vastly-improved Memphis has a strong supporting cast around Morant but have to neutralize the high-scoring trio of Karl-Anthony Towns, D’Angelo Russell and Anthony Edwards.
• No. 3 Warriors vs. No. 6 Nuggets — Stephen Curry is expected to return from his foot injury just in time for Golden State’s postseason run. The Warriors don’t have a true center to guard superstar Nikola Jokic, so they’ll throw all kinds of looks at him.
• No. 4 Mavericks vs. No. 5 Jazz — Luka Doncic‘s calf strain changes the whole dynamic of this series. Can Dallas hang in there with its franchise player either sidelined or less than 100 percent? Utah stumbled down the stretch but it’s healthier than last postseason and Donovan Mitchell will undoubtedly ramp up his production.

That brings us to our question of the day: Who are your picks to win all the first-round playoff series?

Please take to the comments section to make your selections. We look forward to your input.