Analysis | NBA’s shameless tank race is getting ugly as losses pile up –

Undefeated Trendon Watford is one of the few lesser-known players to have increased his playing time when the Portland Trail Blazers dropped in the leaderboard. (Sarah Steer / Getty Images)

this is a quote Ben Gulliver NBA Post Up Weekly bulletin. Sign in Get the latest news and commentary and the best #NBATwitter and R / NBA jokes delivered to your inbox every Monday.

The NBA Play-Tournament has managed to boost playoff seed matches at both conferences, but the new format offers little incentive to abandon residents.

For mediocre teams, the opportunity to get a ninth or tenth start in the playoffs and gain momentum for the future qualifies as a “something better” proposition. For trash stuck in recovery mode, lottery ping pong balls are anything but.

Therefore, tank racing accelerated the season three weeks ago; Four teams have been eliminated from the playoff tournament and a few more will join soon. It all got sensationally bad: In a nine-game losing streak, the Portland Trail Blazers suffered seven losses of 30 points or more after an all-star timeout, and the Orlando Magic conceded a 60-point game in Cairo. . A 51-point game against Irving and Sadiq Bay over a three-day spell last week.

NBA Fan Guide to the NCAA Tournament

When the NBA held the lottery on May 17, all of this short-term grief was caused by Gonzaga Chet Holmgren, Auburn Jabar Smith Jr. and will pay for some lucky teams in the form of potential franchise players like Duke Paolo Banchero. With that in mind, here are the seven worst teams in the NBA and how the draft could change their fates in the long run.

Houston Rockets (17-54): Life could have been even worse for the NBA’s worst team, with a five-game winning streak in mid-November. Basically, Jellen Green, last year’s second pick and best asset in the franchise, improved her scoring performance last month. But there is still a lot of bad news: Houston has the worst defense in the NBA, Kevin Porter plays the young starting guard and center-back Christian Wood stops.

This year’s draft classes feature light talent, so Rocket will likely have to find an alternative solution to this obvious weakness. On the bright side, the abundance of forwards at the top of the draw will give Houston some interesting options. Green and Smith formed a fascinating pair, while Holmgren strengthened Houston’s frontline defense and formed a natural complement to attacking center-back Alpren Şengun.

Orlando Magic (19-53): In the honest world, Orlando’s motto of the season will be “Suffering in the Dark”. Jalen Sags, who was the fifth pick in last year’s draft, was forced to leave the field. Instead, the 20-year-old defender struggled with injuries, scoring 36.1% and recording the lowest player efficiency score in his class for anyone who has played at least 1,000 minutes. Magic knew life would get complicated after Nikola Vuchevich, Aaron Gordon, and other key contributors swapped before last year, but rookie striker Franz Wagner had some bright spots behind him.

Orlando sent several executives to reconnect with Holmgren at the West Coast Conference Tournament in Las Vegas, and the 7-footer was able to block the shot alongside Wendell Carter Jr., a stronger middle option. A skilled scorer, Perdue defender Jayden Ivy can create a dizzying and transformable partnership with the street.

Detroit Pistons (19-52): Cade Cunningham’s outstanding performance after the All Star break – 21.6 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.4 assists – changed Detroit’s history of the season. After the Pistons looked hopelessly young and lost for months, Cunningham rekindled the belief that 2021’s first pick could be turned into a masterpiece like James Harden or Luka Doncic.

Even better: Cunningham’s playing skills and defensive influence make him an incredibly adaptable player who will adapt to any of the best odds of the year. Holmgren, Smith, Banchero and Ivy are clearly included as a second offensive option alongside Cunningham. In terms of basketball on the net, Detroit could be Holmgren’s ideal landing field, given the skyrocketing potential for a pick-and-roll pairing with Cunningham.

Oklahoma City Thunder (20-51): The Thunder got a job in last year’s draft lottery, entering the night in hopes of a spot in the top five, but dropped to sixth and saw the Rockets keep their choice under wraps. It all ended well when General Manager Sam Presti hired Josh Guide. The 19-year-old Australian defender has had a good season and has joined Shay Gilgeus-Alexander as a cornerstone for the Thunder.

Perst may be the NBA’s most patient manager, and his diligent fundraising for Oklahoma City has slowed recovery efforts. However, the Thunder’s front is completely lacking in proven products and could benefit from Holmgren’s versatility, Smith’s shots or Banchero’s scoring instincts.

Gonzaga’s Chat Holmgren is more than just her lean build

Sacramento Kings (25-48): All the other teams on this list seem to lose by design. Kings seem to lose because they don’t know how to win. Dramatic events aside, Sacramento will miss the playoffs for the sixteenth consecutive season. As usual, the sun’s rays are scarce: the mid-season change of coach didn’t help, Domanta Saboni’s craft didn’t pull the needle and main defender De Aaron Fox was unlucky in his five years. , $ 163 million for the beginner expansion.

Sacramento’s extensive series of deleted drafts and failed development projects raise relevant questions across the board. If Holmgren gets lost along with so many veterans who need the ball, will Sabonis abide by the containment restrictions? Will Smith be an all-round profitable player if he is ultimately left ahead of the likes of Fox, Tyrik Evans and Demarcus Cousins ​​with the tag “good stats, bad team”? Luck in the lottery wasn’t enough to save the kings either. Remember, in 2018, Donchich, Trey Young, and Jaren Jackson Jr. were given a second pick to pick Marvin Beagle III, who never considered himself a reliable competitor and was traded in February before completing a new four-year contract.

Indiana Pacers (25-47): After years of poor performance before making it to the playoffs, the Pacers switched mechanics this year to keep the youth movement in trading Sabon, Door Levert, and other veterans. Second-year defensive lineman Thierry Halliburton has arrived from Sacramento, but Indiana is still looking for a superstar to support its fan base.

The Pacers fiercely mistaken Victor Oladipo in 2017 for the local popularity of the Indiana University product. A similar attraction could develop around Ivy, who was born and raised in Indiana and whose mother was the women’s basketball coach at the Church of the Assumption. Together as a defensive duo, Halliburton and Ivy covered all the necessary bases and offered the chance to score goals, shoot out and change positions on the defensive. In fact, the Pacers are auditioning with no bad options as they have no long-term solutions in almost any position. If they jump, Indiana could form a pair with Holmgren and Miley Turner, some of the best shooting blocks in the NBA.

Portland Trail Blazers (26-44): Portland interim general manager Joe Cronin becomes NBA tank commander. After Damian Lillard suffered a stomach injury before the end of the season, the Blazers regularly replaced or shut down nearly every player who would help them win, including future freelancers Anfern Simmons and Yusuf Nurkic. The vulnerable plan lost 1-10 to Portland after an all-star hiatus. Despite the simple schedule, the skeleton team could easily lose so often that the Blazers beat the Kings and Pacers at the end of the match.

After the split between Sage McCollum and Norman Powell Lillard’s supporting actor needed talent, Portland’s lottery luck hasn’t been so hopeless in more than a decade. In fact, the Blazers are the only team on this list with all the NBA talent who could make a fascinating decision if they make it into the top four of the draft. If Blazer plans to trade to provide Lillar with more immediate assistance, will he retain the ability to add a senior junior?

Link to the source

Source: Washington Post

follow:
\