Durant Staying Brooklyn!!!

 On Tuesday August 23rd the Brooklyn Nets issued a statement saying that Kevin Durant and the team have decided to move forward with each other and Durant has rescinded his trade request. The question is now what can we expect from the Brooklyn Nets this season; also how Durant staying affects the rest of the NBA as well.

Durant staying means the team will be a top contender to win the NBA Championship. We’ll finally get a chance to see what the trio of Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, and Durant would look like. It can be very intriguing as you can have Irving play off the ball a position in which he thrived in and have Simmons handle the point guard duties. The Nets open up against the New Orleans Pelicans on October 19th.

One of the more interesting things to watch out for is how teams try to mend relationships with players who heard their names in the Kevin Durant trade rumors. Many of today’s players tend to take their names being circulated in rumors more to heart and forget that this is a business.

Jaylen Brown of the Boston Celtics whose name is constantly in trade rumors once again found his name in rumors when it came to potential Durant trades. I believe Brown will bounce back and have a good season but I can see him eventually asking to be moved from Boston as he may believe they do not value his talent as much as they do his teammate Jayson Tatum.

Brown is just one example but i am sure there are many other teams who have to mend relationships as well. This is going to be a great NBA season and I cannot wait to see what happens.

KD Worth Trading For?

 With the NBA waiting for the Brooklyn Nets to trade Kevin Durant, free agent signings have been put essentially on hold. The question becomes is it worth it to trade for Kevin Durant. 

The team that trades for Kevin Durant would have to be a team that believes they are a superstar away from winning the Championship. The biggest obstacle is that when trading for Durant it will require key players and draft picks. With this being the case I feel there are only realistically 2 teams that could trade for Durant and still have enough for them to be contenders and him be satisfied. The teams that fit this criteria would be Celtics, and Miami Heat.

The Boston Celtics assuming they would only have to give up Jaylond Brown, Marcus Smart and picks as the framework of the deal. Durant with Jayson Tatum would be a powerful offensive combination.

The Miami Heat would be a great destination if they are able to keep both Bam and Jimmy Butler. The Heat would send Tyler Herro, Duncan Robinson and picks. 

The Kevin Durant will go down as one of the biggest trades in NBA  history.

DURANT WANTS OUT AND GOBERT TRADED!!!!

 The 2022 NBA Off season is going to go down as the craziest in NBA History. Kevin Durant has requested a trade from the Brooklyn Nets. Rudy Gobert has been traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves. I will examine these two potential league changing situations things.

Kevin Durant

Kevin Durant requested a trade and he has given a list of teams that he would like to go to including the Phoenix Suns and Miami Heat. The Nets are reportedly looking for 2 young All Star players and draft picks. When this trade occurs it could not include either Devin Booker of the Suns or Bam Adebayo of the Heat. This is because due to the Collective Bargaining Agreement you can only have one designated rookie max player per roster that can be acquired via trade. This means in order to get either of these players, the Nets would have to include Ben Simmons in a trade with Durant. With that being said, Phoenix is still the favorite in my opinion with them having the ability to sign and trade Deandre Ayton in a potential deal to land Durant. I predict Durant will also command 7 draft picks.

Rudy Gobert

Rudy Gobert was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves for 4 players and 4 1st round draft picks. 3 of the draft picks are unprotected, which means no matter where the Timberwolves ended up in the draft the Utah Jazz get their draft pick. This will be an interesting pairing as the 2 time Defensive Player of  the year will be paired in the front court with Karl-Anthony Towns. The defense will be improved with the great rim protector that Gobert is. The issue will come playoff time because you still will have Rudy Gobert's inability to contribute offensively, and also his lack of ability to defend on the perimeter. They can become a middle of the pack team being a 4 to 6 seed in the Western Conference. They will be a first round exit especially if they have to play the Nuggets, Clippers, or Grizzlies.

This off season is just getting started. I cannot wait to see what the rest of the Summer unfolds!!!!!

  

Can Warriors Repeat!!!

 The Golden State Warriors won there 4th NBA Title in 8 years. Steph Curry won his first NBA Finals MVP, adding to his tremendous accolades he has acquired over his career. The question is can the Warriors repeat next season. 

The Warriors are primed to repeat they have the rotation all coming back year. Klay Thompson will be back and better with a year removed from his recovery. He will likely be more consistent with shooting. The contributions of Jordan Poole, Gary Payton II will even grow. In addition, James Wiseman will be back in the fold which will help with the team’s size. Wiseman will be a good rebounder and will be able to contribute offensively as well.

The Warriors have a tremendous shot to repeat next year and they are the early favorites to win the championship next year. I will wait until free agency and off-season moves are made before making an official prediction but the Warriors are in the discussion. 

GAME 1 NBA Finals Takeaway and NBA FINALS Prediction

 The Boston Celtics completed a great  comeback down 12 going into the 4th quarter to take game 1 of the NBA Finals. They received great scoring nights from Al Horford and Derrick White. Horford poured in 26 points including 6-8 from the 3 point line. White contributed 21 points going 5-8 from 3 point line himself this helped to overcome Jayson Tatum who struggled offensively in game 1 of the NBA Finals. Jaylen made his presence felt with 25 points, 7 rebounds and 5 assists.

The Golden State Warriors collapsed in the 4th quarter. Steph Curry had a monster 1st half scoring 21 points in the first quarter. He was just 2-6 in the fourth quarter scoring 4 points. Jordan Poole struggled in his first NBA FInals going 2-7 in 25 minutes. Poole looked as though he was pressing during the game trying to play fast and force the action at times. Draymond Green shot 2-12 from the field which was detrimental due to the fact that the Celtics defense could play off him when he shot his 4 3 point attempts which he missed.

Yes, the Celtics took game 1 ; I do believe the Warriors will win the series in 5 games. White played tremendously knocking down 5 threes. I do not see that happening again in this series. Jayson Tatum will play better for the Celtics but also Jordan Poole will get back to himself and contribute to the Warriors offensively. In addition Klay Thompson will have one great game this series and Draymond will be the facilitator he is and not get up 12 shots in any other game this series without making the Celtics defense pay for leaving him open. Warriors win in 5 and Steph Curry becomes Finals MVP and gets his 4th NBA Championship.

Eastern Conference Finals Game 7 Preview

 Jimmy Butler dropped 47 points in game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals leading the Miami Heat to a 111-103 victory. This forced a game 7 with a trip to the NBA Finals on the line. This was a must win for Miami and they played like it. Butler was aggressive from the start looking for his shot; which was something did not do in the previous game. Also, one of the unsung heroes of the game was Kyle Lowry who scored 18 points including hitting 4 threes.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had decent scoring games scoring 30 and 20 points but their turnover woes reared its head again combining for 11 turnovers. This helped the Heat to get their biggest lead of the night 13 points in the 3rd quarter. The question is what can we expect in game 7 on Sunday in Miami.

The Miami Heat I believe will find a way to get the job done and advance to the NBA Finals. Jimmy Butler will have the Heat ready, they are a veteran team who is eager to get back to the NBA Finals. I think that the game 7 pressure will be too much for the Celtics who I believe are similar to the Oklahoma City Thunder team from 2012 who had a great young core but ultimately only went to 1 NBA Finals. I like Boston but Jaylen Brown and Tatum have not had a great game together throughout this entire series. The only way Boston wins is if they can limit their turnovers. I predict the Miami Heat win game 7 and advance to the NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. Jimmy Butler will win the inaugural Eastern Conference Finals MVP.

NBA Conference Finals Takeaway

 The NBA’s Conference Finals is underway with both the Eastern and Western conferences having both played 2 games. I will be giving my thoughts on each series so far and how I see the series ultimately going.

Golden State Warriors vs Dallas Mavericks ( Warriors 2-0)

The Golden State Warriors completed a great comeback last night when they came back down from 16 points down at halftime and ended up winning which included a 43 point 4th quarter. The Warriors have thrown numerous defenders at Dallas Star Luka Doncic making him work for everything. Luka had a great game 42 points including a 18 point second half. Unfortunately for the Mavericks the Warriors woke up and shot 46% from 3  point range and 61% from the field. Steph Curry and Jordan Poole took over the game in the 2nd half. Curry dropped 12 and Poole 16 helping to lead and take over the game after halftime. Kevon Looney played a great role providing his usual rebounding with 12 but he also poured in 21 points. With Looney being able to be an offensive contributor the Warriors are primed to go back to the NBA Finals. It will be interesting to see how the Mavericks bounce back from this collapse in game 2. With that being said, the Warriors will sweep the Mavericks; Steph is eager to become the newly established Western Conference Finals MVP and ultimately the NBA Finals MVP.

Miami Heat vs Boston Celtics ( Series tied 1-1)

The Celtics have been able to get off to a  traffic start in both games. Jayson Tatum has been shooting well and the Celtics are shooting the 3 point shot well in this series. The Heat have had terrible transition defense so far this series. This has allowed the Celtics to get out for easy fast break points and has put tremendous pressure on the Heat’s defense to be perfect when facing a deficit at halftime  of both games. Game 1 the Heat was able to overcome being down 8 at halftime and their defense sparked their victory. Game 2 they were down 25 at halftime and were never able to get back into the game. In the 2nd half both teams scored 57 points so if the game was closer in the first half who knows how the game would have played out. With both games ultimately being blowouts my takeaway is essential if Miami comes out and plays defense like they are capable of they should win the series. I predict Miami will win in 6 games.