What every NBA team should be thankful for
My favorite part about Thanksgiving is how everyone preaches to me humble and appreciative, but literally the next day they are trampling over each other for unneeded accessories during Black Friday. Never heard of irony? Well, that is it.
Every NBA team, from the lowly Mavericks to the scorching Clippers, has something to be thankful for. Let's get started.
Atlanta Hawks: Paul Millsap
Even after Atlanta swapped Jeff Teague and Al Horford for Dennis Schroder and Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap is still the fulcrum on offense and defense. With Schroder working out the kinks as a starting point guard, Millsap has eased some playmaking duties off the young German's shoulders. Averaging 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1 block, Millsap is as complete a player as ever. His blocks are slightly down just because he has the massive Howard now gobbling them up underneath. Mills goes unnoticed to the average fan since he doesn't put up eye-googling numbers or have many fancy highlights. He just does everything right, and that is something big to be thankful for.
Boston Celtics: Brad Stevens
His team has struggled out of the gate, dealing with the early absences of prized free agent Al Horford and sticky defender Jae Crowder. However, the team is still 9-6, have won 6 of their last 8 games, and are finally all healthy. Stevens will have this team playing at max potential; he is just too good of a coach not to.
Brooklyn Nets: Kenny Atkinson
After years of Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins, the team finally struck gold on a head coach in Atkinson. Atkinson came from Atlanta and has installed their beautiful motion offense into this Nets team. It's not his fault they are not talented, but the time will come when he will really be able to show off his coaching chops when GM Sean Marks eventually builds him a contender.
Charlotte Hornets: Kemba Walker
I had a truly tough time sorting this one out between Walker and his excellent coach Steve Clifford, who has coaxed a top 10 defensive rating for a team that starts Cody Zeller at center. Walker however, has simply been too ridiculous to ignore. He's scoring a sizzling 24.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals. He's doing so on an efficient 48% shooting, an whopping 8 percentage points above his career average. Talk about improvement.
Chicago Bulls: Jimmy Butler
In a year where I thought his progress would be clogged with the additions of ball dominant guards Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade, Butler has responded to his new environment by playing better than ever before. He's averaging a career-high 25.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals and shooting a blazing 42% from three, 10 percentage points better than his career average. He is clearly the team's best defender and scorer and playmaker. Butler is playing like a superstar and the Bulls should be mighty thankful for him.
Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James
Casually averaging 24 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists when it feels like he's just cruising. He revived all of Cleveland when he brought the city a championship for the first time in forever. He is LeBron freaking James, with no signs of slowing down.
Dallas Mavericks: Rick Carlisle
No player on this team is playing at all inspiring. Poor Carlisle, a clear top 5 coach in the league, has to deal with such a talentless team. Currently sitting at a 2-12 record, Carlisle has nothing to work with. Even he cannot overcome the significant drop-off in talent his team sports to the rest of the league. But he is still a fabulous coach, and the Mavs are lucky to have him.
Denver Nuggets: High Altitude
This team is going to be juggernaut in a few years since they have so much promising young talent. But the problem is, no one player has truly stood out thus far and coach Mike Malone is solid but not on "most thankful for" level. So I'm getting funky and handing this one over to the Nugget's blessedly thin air. Teams come in to play and get out of breath fast playing in such paper-thin air. It's truly a unique advantage the Nuggets have to be thankful for.
Detroit Pistons: Reggie Jackson
Jackson has not played a second this year, and sometimes absence shows value. The team is struggling to create open looks without their floor general, and have stumbled to a 7-9 record. Jackson will prove his value when he returns.
Golden State Warriors: ESPN and TNT
What? Two TV channels have something to do with the Warriors' on-court success? Well, when ESPN and TNT poured $24 BILLION into the league's infrastructure in a new TV deal, the NBA's salary cap spiked precipitously the next year. The Warriors, under normal circumstances, would not have had any money to sign a marquee free agent. However, with the high cap, they were able to fit Kevin Durant onto their salary. Now they are a juggernaut, with a 13-2 record and winners of 9 straight, and have TV channels to thank for it.
Houston Rockets: James Harden
Sometimes this exercise is as easy as just picking a team's best player. Harden is averaging video-game numbers in 28.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and a faint-inducing 12.5 assists. He cannot be stopped in the pick and roll, is actually trying on defense (baby steps) and has a luscious beard to top it all off. The Rocket's offense craters without him, so yeah, they are thankful for him and his beard the most.
Indiana Pacers: Paul George
Kind of a miserable team. They are off to an depressing 7-9 start, sitting at 25th in the league in offensive rating after an offseason devoted to pumping up that side of the ball. The team's offseason philosophy of prioritizing offense over defense has backfired, since they went from a great defensive team that struggled on offense to a team that has struggled at both. They are still most thankful for George, a superstar two-way player that is clutch and can guard the opposing team's best offensive player.
LA Clippers: The Bench
Yes, the starters have played magnificently, the team has the league's #2 defensive AND offensive rating and Doc Rivers is coaching his pants off. According to NBA.com/stats, the Clippers' bench line up of Austin Rivers, Raymond Felton, Jamal Crawford, Wesley Johnson and Marresse Speights is the 21st best lineup in the league. That means the Clippers' bench is better than 9 other team's starting lineups. Wild. After years of their bench dragging them down, the Clippers can finally be thankful they have a good one.
Los Angeles Lakers: Luke Walton
After two years of Byron Scott, this Lakers team would have been thankful to have anyone else at head coach. But Walton has been terrific, getting his young team to buy in and start the season with an 8-8 record. He has installed an offense heavy on passing and movement, constructed a wonderful bench lineup, and somehow extracted actual quality minutes out of Nick Young. Can someone please find out what Luke told him before the season?
Memphis Grizzlies: Marc Gasol
Marc Gasol is such an under appreciated specimen. He can virtually do it all now. He is draining dagger threes against the Clippers, is the best passing center in the league, has a polished post game and is still a huge vacuum on defense. Also, his gutair celebration is a work of art.
Miami Heat: Pat Riley
Sitting at a depressing 4-10 record, the team may soon decide to tank and nab a franchise player in the draft. However, they still have Riley to be thankful for. He has brought the organization 3 rings, is the best free-agent recruiter in the business and threw his rings on the table in a meeting with LeBron James. He's ruthless (see Wade, Dwyane) and will stop at nothing to win. Riley should have the Heat machine back and running in a couple years.
Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Greek Freak is stuffing the stat sheet more than your turkey. He's putting up a ridiculous 21.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.2 blocks and 2 steals. Still only 21-years-old, the Freak can transport into the paint with one step of his crazy long stride. He is position-less in that he could play all five positions. Who knows how good he will be in 5 years? What we do know is that his team should be most thankful for him.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl Anthony-Towns
Towns is the future of how dominant the center position can become. He can pass, dribble, defend the rim and perimeter, post-up, hit threes and has a competitive fire only the greats have. The Timberwolves should be grateful that they were lucky enough to draft him.
New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis
Take a look at these stats Davis is putting up: 31 points on 51% shooting, 10.7 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1.7 steals. That is insane. While the Pelicans have a measly 6-10 record, they have won 4 in a row and have point guard Jrue Holiday back. But it's obvious Davis is the team's best player and only hope of a playoff birth.
New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis
When have the Knicks ever had a truly generational young stud? It seems they always have over-the-hill players who are worse than their names suggest. The Zinger has a sweet shooting stroke and can defend the rim. He's the team's best player even though people think Carmelo is. He's always upbeat and is the perfect player to build a franchise around for the long haul.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Russell Westbrook
The team sorely misses everything KD brought to the table, but the Russ machine s chugging along just fine. Russell is basically averaging a triple- double (32 points, 10.5 assists and 9.6 rebounds), which is unprecedented in this day and age. Only Oscar Roberson has done it for a whole season, and Russ and his ferociousness are on pace.
Orlando Magic: Literally Nothing
GM Rob shenanigan is constantly botching draft picks and giving away quality players who flourish elsewhere for nothing (Tobias Harris, Mo Harkless and Dewayne Dedmon). The front court logjam of Serge Ibaka, Nik Vucevic and Bismarck Biyombo is a total mess since none of the can pass and only Ibaka can shoot (46% from three). Too many players across the misshapen roster cannot shoot and that is death in today's NBA.
Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid
I am so thankful I can finally watch Embiid, who is a real joy to behold. He's massive (7'3), yet agile, and his per 36 minutes numbers are nuts: 30 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. He has a refreshing sense of humor, embodies The Process and really cares about winning, as evidenced by his kicking of the chair when he had to leave a game due to minutes restrictions.
Phoenix Suns: Not Much
The team is in disfunction yet again. GM Ryan McDonough has himself a warped team half-filled with washed up veterans and young 20-year-olds. Sandwiched in between the mess is Eric Bledsoe and fellow guard Brandon Knight. McDonough needs to find out who the players are who will stick around for the long term and shave off some veterans. Right now, perhaps shooting guard Devin Booker, a young playmaker with a sweet shot, is somebody the team can be thankful for.
Portland Trail-Blazers: Damian Lillard
The team had a rough offseason, shelling out a combined $140 million to Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe, two players who have underwhelmed to say the least. And here Dame is, one of the best leaders and rappers in the league, trying to keep his struggling team together by pouring in 28 points a game.
Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins
Once again, this team is in shambles. They sport a weak 6-9 record and seem not to like each other. Boogie looks pissed as usual, but at least he is the team's most dominant player by a wide margin. Not much to be thankful for here.
San Antonio Spurs: Gregg Popovich
He's not afraid to speak his mind regarding politics, is in my opinion the greatest coach of all time, and manages his players' minutes to perfection. Pop has his Spurs team sitting at 13-3 and no one is surprised.
Toronto Raptors: Canada
They have a whole country behind their back while most NBA teams can only claim to have a city. The Raptors fans are great, standing in freezing cold weather to watch games outside on the jumbo screen and cheering loud as heck in the arena. The Raptors should be thankful for such wonderful fans.
Utah Jazz: George Hill
The Jazz, for the first time since Deron Williams, finally have a good point guard again! Hill is playing really good basketball thus far. While he has had to deal with a nagging hand injury, he's been running the team and playing his usually stifling defense to perfection.
Washington Wizards: Nothing
John Wall and Brad Beal hate each other, Scott Brooks can't coach, Marcin Gortat is saying the bench sucks.....what else? The poor Wizards are always mired in some form of disfunction.
Happy Holidays.
Every NBA team, from the lowly Mavericks to the scorching Clippers, has something to be thankful for. Let's get started.
Atlanta Hawks: Paul Millsap
Even after Atlanta swapped Jeff Teague and Al Horford for Dennis Schroder and Dwight Howard, Paul Millsap is still the fulcrum on offense and defense. With Schroder working out the kinks as a starting point guard, Millsap has eased some playmaking duties off the young German's shoulders. Averaging 17 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1.7 steals and 1 block, Millsap is as complete a player as ever. His blocks are slightly down just because he has the massive Howard now gobbling them up underneath. Mills goes unnoticed to the average fan since he doesn't put up eye-googling numbers or have many fancy highlights. He just does everything right, and that is something big to be thankful for.
Boston Celtics: Brad Stevens
His team has struggled out of the gate, dealing with the early absences of prized free agent Al Horford and sticky defender Jae Crowder. However, the team is still 9-6, have won 6 of their last 8 games, and are finally all healthy. Stevens will have this team playing at max potential; he is just too good of a coach not to.
Brooklyn Nets: Kenny Atkinson
After years of Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins, the team finally struck gold on a head coach in Atkinson. Atkinson came from Atlanta and has installed their beautiful motion offense into this Nets team. It's not his fault they are not talented, but the time will come when he will really be able to show off his coaching chops when GM Sean Marks eventually builds him a contender.
Charlotte Hornets: Kemba Walker
I had a truly tough time sorting this one out between Walker and his excellent coach Steve Clifford, who has coaxed a top 10 defensive rating for a team that starts Cody Zeller at center. Walker however, has simply been too ridiculous to ignore. He's scoring a sizzling 24.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.6 steals. He's doing so on an efficient 48% shooting, an whopping 8 percentage points above his career average. Talk about improvement.
Chicago Bulls: Jimmy Butler
In a year where I thought his progress would be clogged with the additions of ball dominant guards Rajon Rondo and Dwyane Wade, Butler has responded to his new environment by playing better than ever before. He's averaging a career-high 25.8 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.6 steals and shooting a blazing 42% from three, 10 percentage points better than his career average. He is clearly the team's best defender and scorer and playmaker. Butler is playing like a superstar and the Bulls should be mighty thankful for him.
Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James
Casually averaging 24 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists when it feels like he's just cruising. He revived all of Cleveland when he brought the city a championship for the first time in forever. He is LeBron freaking James, with no signs of slowing down.
Dallas Mavericks: Rick Carlisle
No player on this team is playing at all inspiring. Poor Carlisle, a clear top 5 coach in the league, has to deal with such a talentless team. Currently sitting at a 2-12 record, Carlisle has nothing to work with. Even he cannot overcome the significant drop-off in talent his team sports to the rest of the league. But he is still a fabulous coach, and the Mavs are lucky to have him.
Denver Nuggets: High Altitude
This team is going to be juggernaut in a few years since they have so much promising young talent. But the problem is, no one player has truly stood out thus far and coach Mike Malone is solid but not on "most thankful for" level. So I'm getting funky and handing this one over to the Nugget's blessedly thin air. Teams come in to play and get out of breath fast playing in such paper-thin air. It's truly a unique advantage the Nuggets have to be thankful for.
Detroit Pistons: Reggie Jackson
Jackson has not played a second this year, and sometimes absence shows value. The team is struggling to create open looks without their floor general, and have stumbled to a 7-9 record. Jackson will prove his value when he returns.
Golden State Warriors: ESPN and TNT
What? Two TV channels have something to do with the Warriors' on-court success? Well, when ESPN and TNT poured $24 BILLION into the league's infrastructure in a new TV deal, the NBA's salary cap spiked precipitously the next year. The Warriors, under normal circumstances, would not have had any money to sign a marquee free agent. However, with the high cap, they were able to fit Kevin Durant onto their salary. Now they are a juggernaut, with a 13-2 record and winners of 9 straight, and have TV channels to thank for it.
Houston Rockets: James Harden
Sometimes this exercise is as easy as just picking a team's best player. Harden is averaging video-game numbers in 28.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and a faint-inducing 12.5 assists. He cannot be stopped in the pick and roll, is actually trying on defense (baby steps) and has a luscious beard to top it all off. The Rocket's offense craters without him, so yeah, they are thankful for him and his beard the most.
Indiana Pacers: Paul George
Kind of a miserable team. They are off to an depressing 7-9 start, sitting at 25th in the league in offensive rating after an offseason devoted to pumping up that side of the ball. The team's offseason philosophy of prioritizing offense over defense has backfired, since they went from a great defensive team that struggled on offense to a team that has struggled at both. They are still most thankful for George, a superstar two-way player that is clutch and can guard the opposing team's best offensive player.
LA Clippers: The Bench
Yes, the starters have played magnificently, the team has the league's #2 defensive AND offensive rating and Doc Rivers is coaching his pants off. According to NBA.com/stats, the Clippers' bench line up of Austin Rivers, Raymond Felton, Jamal Crawford, Wesley Johnson and Marresse Speights is the 21st best lineup in the league. That means the Clippers' bench is better than 9 other team's starting lineups. Wild. After years of their bench dragging them down, the Clippers can finally be thankful they have a good one.
Los Angeles Lakers: Luke Walton
After two years of Byron Scott, this Lakers team would have been thankful to have anyone else at head coach. But Walton has been terrific, getting his young team to buy in and start the season with an 8-8 record. He has installed an offense heavy on passing and movement, constructed a wonderful bench lineup, and somehow extracted actual quality minutes out of Nick Young. Can someone please find out what Luke told him before the season?
Memphis Grizzlies: Marc Gasol
Marc Gasol is such an under appreciated specimen. He can virtually do it all now. He is draining dagger threes against the Clippers, is the best passing center in the league, has a polished post game and is still a huge vacuum on defense. Also, his gutair celebration is a work of art.
Miami Heat: Pat Riley
Sitting at a depressing 4-10 record, the team may soon decide to tank and nab a franchise player in the draft. However, they still have Riley to be thankful for. He has brought the organization 3 rings, is the best free-agent recruiter in the business and threw his rings on the table in a meeting with LeBron James. He's ruthless (see Wade, Dwyane) and will stop at nothing to win. Riley should have the Heat machine back and running in a couple years.
Milwaukee Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo
The Greek Freak is stuffing the stat sheet more than your turkey. He's putting up a ridiculous 21.8 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 2.2 blocks and 2 steals. Still only 21-years-old, the Freak can transport into the paint with one step of his crazy long stride. He is position-less in that he could play all five positions. Who knows how good he will be in 5 years? What we do know is that his team should be most thankful for him.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Karl Anthony-Towns
Towns is the future of how dominant the center position can become. He can pass, dribble, defend the rim and perimeter, post-up, hit threes and has a competitive fire only the greats have. The Timberwolves should be grateful that they were lucky enough to draft him.
New Orleans Pelicans: Anthony Davis
Take a look at these stats Davis is putting up: 31 points on 51% shooting, 10.7 rebounds, 2.8 blocks and 1.7 steals. That is insane. While the Pelicans have a measly 6-10 record, they have won 4 in a row and have point guard Jrue Holiday back. But it's obvious Davis is the team's best player and only hope of a playoff birth.
New York Knicks: Kristaps Porzingis
When have the Knicks ever had a truly generational young stud? It seems they always have over-the-hill players who are worse than their names suggest. The Zinger has a sweet shooting stroke and can defend the rim. He's the team's best player even though people think Carmelo is. He's always upbeat and is the perfect player to build a franchise around for the long haul.
Oklahoma City Thunder: Russell Westbrook
The team sorely misses everything KD brought to the table, but the Russ machine s chugging along just fine. Russell is basically averaging a triple- double (32 points, 10.5 assists and 9.6 rebounds), which is unprecedented in this day and age. Only Oscar Roberson has done it for a whole season, and Russ and his ferociousness are on pace.
Orlando Magic: Literally Nothing
GM Rob shenanigan is constantly botching draft picks and giving away quality players who flourish elsewhere for nothing (Tobias Harris, Mo Harkless and Dewayne Dedmon). The front court logjam of Serge Ibaka, Nik Vucevic and Bismarck Biyombo is a total mess since none of the can pass and only Ibaka can shoot (46% from three). Too many players across the misshapen roster cannot shoot and that is death in today's NBA.
Philadelphia 76ers: Joel Embiid
I am so thankful I can finally watch Embiid, who is a real joy to behold. He's massive (7'3), yet agile, and his per 36 minutes numbers are nuts: 30 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocks. He has a refreshing sense of humor, embodies The Process and really cares about winning, as evidenced by his kicking of the chair when he had to leave a game due to minutes restrictions.
Phoenix Suns: Not Much
The team is in disfunction yet again. GM Ryan McDonough has himself a warped team half-filled with washed up veterans and young 20-year-olds. Sandwiched in between the mess is Eric Bledsoe and fellow guard Brandon Knight. McDonough needs to find out who the players are who will stick around for the long term and shave off some veterans. Right now, perhaps shooting guard Devin Booker, a young playmaker with a sweet shot, is somebody the team can be thankful for.
Portland Trail-Blazers: Damian Lillard
The team had a rough offseason, shelling out a combined $140 million to Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe, two players who have underwhelmed to say the least. And here Dame is, one of the best leaders and rappers in the league, trying to keep his struggling team together by pouring in 28 points a game.
Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins
Once again, this team is in shambles. They sport a weak 6-9 record and seem not to like each other. Boogie looks pissed as usual, but at least he is the team's most dominant player by a wide margin. Not much to be thankful for here.
San Antonio Spurs: Gregg Popovich
He's not afraid to speak his mind regarding politics, is in my opinion the greatest coach of all time, and manages his players' minutes to perfection. Pop has his Spurs team sitting at 13-3 and no one is surprised.
Toronto Raptors: Canada
They have a whole country behind their back while most NBA teams can only claim to have a city. The Raptors fans are great, standing in freezing cold weather to watch games outside on the jumbo screen and cheering loud as heck in the arena. The Raptors should be thankful for such wonderful fans.
Utah Jazz: George Hill
The Jazz, for the first time since Deron Williams, finally have a good point guard again! Hill is playing really good basketball thus far. While he has had to deal with a nagging hand injury, he's been running the team and playing his usually stifling defense to perfection.
Washington Wizards: Nothing
John Wall and Brad Beal hate each other, Scott Brooks can't coach, Marcin Gortat is saying the bench sucks.....what else? The poor Wizards are always mired in some form of disfunction.
Happy Holidays.
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