Zion Makes a Statement in His NBA Debut.

Finally, after missing the first 13 weeks of the NBA season, Zion Williamson made his NBA debut against the San Antonio Spurs. While the hype is real, the questions were too. How good will Williamson be? How much will he get to play in his first game? Will Williamson be the same player he was before his injury? Well, we got answers to all of those questions and much more.

Coming into the game, the New Orleans Pelicans put a minutes restriction on Williamson. He would play the first four minutes if every quarter. Coach, Alvin Gentry, stuck to that for the most part. Williamson started the game and four minutes into the game was taken out. This may not have been a popular decision with fans in the arena, but the Pelicans motto this season might as well be “protect Zion”. Williamson was only scheduled to miss 6 to 8 weeks with his injury. Yet, the cautious Pelicans kept him out for 13 weeks.

The game started out slow for Zion and stayed that way through the first 3 quarters. He got his first NBA points via a clean rebound followed by a put back and he had a good looking assist to Ingram in the first. But he didn’t do anything especially impressive. There were small flashes of play in which he would show his remarkable athleticism but nothing that really got the fans going. Until the fourth quarter.

With 8:53 left in the game Williamson hit a 3. This would spark one of the most incredible fourth quarter performances by a rookie ever. The very next possession Williamson spun around Spurs guard DeMar DeRozan and caught a lob from Lonzo Ball for a quick lay up. This gave him 10 points. Keep in mind, Williamson had 5 points in the first 3 quarters.

In the next possession Williamson stepped up and hit another 3 pointer. Just 28 seconds later Williamson was blocked by Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, but that was not going to stop him. Williamson got his own rebound and quickly laid in the put back for another 2 points, giving him a total of 15 points with 10 in the forth quarter alone.

During the next possession Ball fed Williamson again, who hit a third 3 pointer. Once the Pelicans were in possession of the ball again, Ball sent it over to Williamson who hit another 3, this time with LeMarcus Aldridge guarding him, to give New Orleans the lead. Williamson was fouled on the next possession and made both free throws. He was then taken out of the game having a total of 22 points after he scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter.

Zion Williamson finished with a line of 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists with 18 minutes played. He shot 8-11 from the field and was a perfect 4-4 from 3 point range. He is the first NBA player to hit 4 or more 3’s without missing in his debut. Even though it started off slow, Zion Williamson’s debut was nothing short of spectacular. Even though he had an incredible debut, Williamson still expressed that he wished his team had pulled out the win. Despite a great individual performance, it did not matter. His remarkable competitiveness drives him and Zion Williamson wants nothing more than to win.

Less Than 24 Hours Into NBA Free Agency And The League Is On Fire.

So many big free agents with so many options could only have led to a big free agency season this summer. Some big surprises have already changed the NBA and it hasn’t even been a full day yet.

The Nets are the obvious big winners. They have signed Kevin Durant for 4-years, $164M, Kyrie Irving for 4-years, $141M, and DeAndre Jordan. Despite not having KD for the upcoming season due to his achilles injury the Nets still have a very good shot at winning a championship in the next 3 years with these moves. There is even talk of Kyrie and KD taking less than the max so that Jordan can get more money. It seems that these 3 are already acting like teammates and with a great bench to support them we could be looking at the next dynasty.

The Nets also made a big move by trading D’Angelo Russell to the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors are likely to trade him so we will see where Russell lands. Wherever he ends up will get a very good and upcoming star in this league.

The Warriors also sent Andre Iguodala to the Memphis Grizzlies. Memphis will likely buy him out and Iguodala will become a free agent. Whoever lands him will get a good player and a great veteran leader.

The Celtics, Nets, and Hornets engaged in a 3-way sign and trade. The Nets got Kyrie through this but the Celtics ended up signing Kemba Walker for 4-years, $141M, to replace him. This could be a very good move for the Celtics. Kemba will give them a lot of great offense minus the locker room drama that Kyrie was partly responsible for. The Hornets received Terry Rozier, an excellent up and coming point guard who will be good for a young rebuilding Hornets team.

The New Orleans pelicans were also busy adding JJ Redick for 2-years, $26.5M. Redick will add a good veteran presence to a very young and rising Pelicans team. Redick will also give New Orleans some more great shooting.

A very interesting signing was the Detroit Pistons signing Derrick Rose for 2-years, $15M. For years Rose has been a shell of his former self. However, since he dropped 50 against the Jazz last year he has been a solid player for the Timberwolves. The Pistons now have a solid point guard to pair with Blake Griffin and help them finally get into the playoffs.

Miami has made possibly the second biggest move this free agency. The Heat finalized a sign-and-trade with the 76ers for Jimmy Butler. Butler fits perfectly with the Heat. And even though the Heat no longer have Hassan Whiteside, having traded him to Portland, they still have Kelly Olynyk and Meyers Leonard, who they got in the Whiteside trade. Miami has been a rough, hard working team since LeBron left and that is perfect for Butler.

The big losers in all of free agency are the New York Knicks. Before last night, Knicks fans were looking forward to a big free agency. They were potentially looking at getting both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. However, after the Nets beat them to it the Knicks were completely lost. They have gone from being a massive story in free agency to the biggest fail. The biggest player they’ve gotten is Julius Randle who, while he is a solid player, is no Durant or Kyrie. The Knicks can’t seem to catch a break.

Those are just a few 0f the biggest stories in free agency. With not even 24 hours since the beginning of free agency and Kawhi Leonard yet to make his decision, we are still waiting to see what next years NBA will look like. One thing is for sure, the NBA is going to look very different next season.

The Top 5 Picks From The 2019 NBA Draft

The 2019 NBA draft has concluded and some very exciting young players have finally achieved their dream of making the NBA. Here is my analysis of the top 5 picks of the draft.

Zion Williamson, the number 1 pick by the New Orleans Pelicans, is the most anticipated prospect since LeBron James. Coming out of Duke after one year. he is extremely athletic and one of the most explosive basketball players in the world already. He shot 82% in transition in college and had the highest player efficiency rating ever. He is big and strong, yet very quick. He can work in the post and drive from the point.There is nothing to suggest that Zion Williamson won’t be a mega star in the NBA. With a good front office, a lot of talent around him, and an entire city behind him, Zion is ready to be a Pelican.

Ja Morant, the number 2 pick by the Memphis Grizzlies, is a point guard from Murray State Univeristy. A year ago it was a question as to wether or not he would even be drafted. He then attended Chris Paul’s camp and had an incredible season and is now going number 2 overall. In Memphis he will have the tall task of replacing Mike Conley, one of the best guards in the league. He led the nation with 10 assists per game and can pass with either hand. He also averaged 24.5 points per game. Ja Morant is an elite passer and an great scorer and will be an excellent addition to a rebuilding Memphis Grizzlies team.

RJ Barrett, the number 3 pick by the New York Knicks, is a shooting guard from Duke who won the Jerry West award for the best shooting guard. He led the ACC in scoring with 860 points scored in his freshman year. He can drive into the paint and score on anyone and is also an excellent rebounder. He’s strong and has good handles making him fantastic in transition. The Knicks have a great prospect and a lot of cap space to sign some big free agents this off season.

Through a series of trades, the Atlanta Hawks ended up with the number 4 pick in the draft and drafted De’Andre Hunter, a forward from Virginia University. He was the ACC defensive player of the year and was instrumental in Virginias national championship win scoring 27 points. He’s an excellent 2-way player and a fantastic defender who shot 44% for three. The Hawks got a very good player and a great three point shooter who Trea Young can dish it out to. De’Andre Hunter will be a fantastic addition to the rising Atlanta Hawks squad.

Darius Garland, the number 5 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a point guard from Vanderbilt. Despite having only played 5 games last season for Vanderbilt due to a knee injury, he averaged 16 points per game in those games. He was ranked the number 1 point guard coming out of high school and is an excellent shooter. He has a quick shot and can shoot from anywhere. The Cavaliers will have to figure out how to use both Garland and Collin Sexton at the guard spot, but Cleveland got a great guard in Darius Garland.

The New Orleans Pelicans Have Traded Anthony Davis

It finally happened. The New Orleans Pelicans have traded Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers for Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, Josh Hart and 3 first round picks, including the number 4 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. With this trade comes a question: Who won the trade? The answer is both the Lakers and the Pelicans.

In the short run, the Lakers clearly won this trade. They’ve paired LeBron James and Anthony Davis, 2 of the best players in the NBA, together with a solid player in Kyle Kuzma, who still has a lot of potential. The Lakers will almost definitely make the playoffs next season and while I don’t believe the Lakers will win a title next year, it is all but guaranteed that the Lakers will win an NBA championship within the next 4 years.

However, in the long run , the Pelicans won this trade by a long shot. The Pelicans received a bevy of young talent and 3 first round draft picks in this coming NBA draft. Not only does New Orleans have the number 1 pick, which will likely be Zion Williamson, but they also have the number 4 pick in this draft and 2 more first round picks in the future. The Pelicans are about to become a very young and good team.

Bandon Ingram is a good scorer. He’s very skinny but is able to use his length to score often. He finished last season averaging 18.3 points a game on 47.9% shooting. Lonzo Ball is a great passer and if he can either fix his jump shot or become a pass first point guard he could be a good point guard for the Pelicans. While he works on that, the Pelicans still have Jrue Holliday, who has proven himself to be a solid point guard in the league. Josh Hart can also provide valuable minutes off the bench. However, the most interesting part of this trade is the 3 first round picks.

The pelicans will have the number 1 and 4 picks in the 2019 NBA draft. The perfect situation would see Memphis and New York passing on RJ Barrett and the Pelicans taking him at number 4 to reunite the two former Duke team mates. However, New York is likely to take Barrett with the third pick in the draft. Most likely, the Pelicans will take a solid prospect in De’Andre Hunter. Hunter, coming off a national championship with Virginia, shot 43.3% from 3-point range and can guard multiple positions. He’s 6’7 and has the potential to be a very good NBA player.

However, another option for the Pelicans is to pick De’Andre Hunter and then put a package together to get a solid veteran to help Zion Williamson as he enters the league. This package would likely include Hunter, Hart, and Ball and get New Orleans a player from a team in a rebuild like Bradley Beal from the Wizards or Kevin Love from Cleveland.

Anyway you look at it, this was not a bad trade for either side. Both the Lakers and the Pelicans have very bright futures ahead of them. The Lakers have anther star to pair with LeBron as they make a championship run and the Pelicans have a young, talented core and lots of options to play with.

The Raptors Are NBA Champions: Why There Shouldn’t Be An Asterisk By Their Title

After 6 intense and drama filled games, the Toronto Raptors are NBA champions for the first time in franchise history. However, some may put an asterisk by the Raptors championship due to the many injuries that the Warriors had. Injuries before and during the finals plagued Golden State.

First Kevin Durant was out for the first 4 games of the finals with a calf injury. When he came back, Durant played 12 minutes of the game and was playing very well. He score 11 points before he ruptured his achilles. Kevon Looney was playing through a chest injury for several games in the finals and Klay Thompson scored 30 points in games 6 before he tore his ACL and was forced to leave the game.

However, these injuries should not discount the Raptors championship. The Raptors fought hard and got through an incredible amount of adversity to get to a championship. Kawhi Leonard had a circus of a season last year with the Spurs in which he barley played. Leonard had to prove that he was still one of the best in the league. Kyle Lowry has been with the Raptors through out all of their playoff woes which often came at the hand of Lebron James. Fred VanVleet went undrafted and was the last player to make the Raptors 15 man roster in his rookie year. Even Nick Nurse, Raptors head coach, had adversity that he had to over come. He replaced last years coach of the year in Dwane Casey, and has been trying to prove himself as an NBA coach, let alone a championship caliber coach.

However, despite all the adversity and all the road blocks, the Toronto Raptors are NBA champions. Kawhi Leonard averaged 19 points per game in the playoffs and won the finals MVP. Kyle Lowry woke up in these playoffs and was a key player in the Raptors championship win even scoring 15 points in the first quarter alone in game 6. Fred VanVleet has been a cornerstone for the Raptors for the entire season and performed very well in the finals after his child was born. Nick Nurse was brilliant in his coaching, making the necessary decisions and even bringing out a box-and-1 defense on Golden State, which worked.

Let’s not forget that the Warriors are still a formidable team with out Kevin Durant. Obviously, the Warriors are not a better team with out Kevin Durant and not having to worry about him definitely helped the Raptors. But the Raptors were essentially playing the same Warriors team who went 73-9 in the 2015-2016 season. The Warriors still had Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala, as well and some solid players off the bench. They also had Kevon Looney who, while he was injured, was a solid big man for the Warriors in the finals.

Over all, we should not discount the Raptors championship win just because the Warriors had some key players injured. The Injuries the Warriors suffered certainly didn’t hurt the Raptors but, in the end, it was the Raptors heart, determination, skill, and hard play that won them the chip. Congratulations to the Toronto Raptors. Your 2019 NBA Champions.

What Is The Pelicans Best Option In The AD Trade Situation?

The biggest story this off-season is where Anthony Davis will end up. Everyone is talking about where Davis should go. However, everyone seems to be forgetting that Anthony Davis will not be a free agent until after the 2019-2020 NBA season. It is really up to the Pelicans where Anthony Davis goes; or if he goes anywhere. New Orleans has four trade options that could benefit them the most.

The worst option for the Pelicans is trading Anthony Davis to the Knicks. If the rumors are to be believed, New York is one of the likely destinations for Kevin Durant. It is also rumored that Kyrie Irving may leave Boston and possibly go to New York. If that happens then New York would be a desirable destination for AD. However, trading Anthony Davis to the Knicks would be the worst option for New Orleans.

The Knicks can’t offer anything anywhere close to the packages that other teams can. The best offer the Knicks would be able to produce would be Kevin Knox, Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, and the number 3 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. Knox and Smith Jr. are good players but the Pelicans already have Jrue Holiday and E’Twaun Moore to fill those spots. DeAndre Jordan is an interesting asset. He would give the Pelicans a solid Center to replace Anthony Davis. Jordan is no where near as good as Davis but he can help the pelicans fill that gap. The number 3 pick in the draft is a great asset and could help New Orleans get Zion Williamson and his duke teammate, RJ Barrett, on the same team. But they could get a much better package from another team that would include more young talent.

A better option for the Pelicans would be trading Anthony Davis to the Boston Celtics. Danny Ainge has been known as an extremely aggressive GM and has made a lot of trades in the past few years and adding AD could give the Celtics the boost they need to win a championship. However, by making this trade they will also give up their future. In order for the Pelicans to even consider giving up Davis, Ainge will have to give up the house. A good trade package for the Celtics to put together would be Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Aaron Baynes, and possibly the number 14 pick in the 2019 NBA draft. This would give New Orleans a formidable starting five in Jrue Holiday, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Julius Randle, and Aaron Baynes with E’Twaun Moore as a solid scorer coming of the bench. The biggest issue with this trade is on the Celtics side. If Kyrie Irving doesn’t stay in Boston then the Celtics may not want to trade away their future stars. It all depends on if Kyrie stays or not.

Another option, and in my opinion the best option, for New Orleans is to trade Anthony Davis to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers need AD, which means they are desperate. They have a limited amount of time with LeBron and they believe that a LeBron and AD pair is the key to championship success. Anything the Pelicans want they are sure to get. This trade will be much like the Boston trade in terms of the Pelicans receiving a lot of good, young talent. The Pelicans would most likely receive Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Lonzo Ball. They may also try to get one of the Lakers big men, like JaVale McGee, to fill the hole that loosing Anthony Davis will leave in the starting line up. But what makes this trade so much more enticing than the Boston trade is the Lakers number 4 pick in the 2019 NBA draft.

While they may not get RJ Barrett with that pick they could get Darius Garland, a guard from Vanderbilt who is a solid scorer and could be a good back up for Jrue Holiday while Garland learns the NBA game. However, nothing is set in stone and RJ Barrett may not be taken in the top 3. With this trade the Pelicans will get several young players with a lot of potential and a good prospect.

New Orleans’s last option is to keep Anthony Davis. This will be difficult because AD has made it clear that he doesn’t want to be in New Orleans and most people doubt he wants to share the spot light with a young rookie. If he did stay then a Zion AD pair could be a big threat to the rest of the league. However, with Davis seemingly intent on leaving New Orleans the Pelicans best option would be to trade AD and get something in return now, rather than keep him for a year and then lose him for nothing in free agency.

The New Orleans Pelicans hold all the cards. They can get just about anything and anyone they want. All they have to do is decide what they want and they have some very good options.

How Masai Ujiri Made The Raptors A Contender

In 1995, The Toronto Raptors franchise was born. In their inaugural season the Raptors won 21 games. For years the Raptors have been the laughing stock of the NBA. Conspiracies to keep the Raptors out of the finals have even raced through the ranks of Toronto basketball fans. So how did a franchise that felt more like the NBA’s weird cousin than it did an actual NBA team get to the NBA finals in 24 years? The answer is simple. Masai Ujiri.

Masai Ujiri is the General Manager of the Toronto Raptors and is possibly the best General manager in the NBA today. He took a franchise that seemed like it was stuck in the second round of the playoffs and turned them into not only a contender, but a genuine threat to the Golden State Warriors. He did this by taking risks that many GM’s in the league would consider insane.

His first risk was perhaps the biggest one he took. Ujiri fired the Raptors head coach, Dwane Casey. This caught the NBA by surprise. Dwane Casey had just had a historic season with the Raptors. Not only had he led the Raptors to their winningest season in franchise history, with 59 wins. but he was also a candidate for coach of the year, an award that he would later win. Everyone knew the Raptors needed a change to move up to the next level, but to fire the best coach in franchise history? What could Ujiri be thinking?

After firing Dwane Casey, Ujiri named Nick Nurse as the Raptors next head coach. Nurse had a lot of experience as a basketball coach, coaching high school, college, and having championship success in the G-league. However, the most NBA coaching experience he had was 5 years as an assistant coach with the Raptors. Masai Ujiri had just fired the best coach in franchise history for the assistant coach.

The next risk Ujiri took was trading DeMar DeRozan, Jakob Poeltl, and a 2019 protected first round pick to the Spurs for Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green. This was risky for two reasons. DeMar DeRozan was the face of the Toronto franchise. What he meant to that city and that franchise is difficult to describe. He gave his heart and soul to the Raptors organization and their fans. Losing Poeltl, Green, and the pick wasn’t a big deal for the Raptors, but loosing DeRozan was like loosing a loved one and DeRozen wasn’t happy about it either.

The biggest part of the trade was the Raptors receiving Kawhi Leonard. Kawhi had made a mess of the situation in San Antonio, stating that he was unhappy with how the Spurs staff had handled his injury and that he wanted out. The Spurs didn’t want to trade one of the best players in the league to any western conference competition, so they traded him to Toronto. Kawhi had made it clear that he wanted to go to LA, so it was pretty much a forgone conclusion that wherever Kawhi went that wasn’t LA, he would be there for 1 season before moving on.

Masai Ujiri had just traded the most beloved Raptors player and a 4-time all-star for a superstar who would more than likely only be there for a year. Kawhi was clearly not happy about the trade and with DeRozen leaving Kyle Lowry and Ujiri’s relationship deteriorated. Lowry and Ujiri, reportedly, didn’t even talk outside of a professional situation for a good portion of the first half of the season. So, Ujiri traded DeMar DeRozen, a beloved Raptors player and the best on the team and he damaged his relationship with the second best player on the team. All for a player who would probably leave after a year.

The last risk that Masai Ujiri took was trading Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, C.J. Miles and a 2024 second-round pick to the Memphis Grizzlies for Marc Gasol. The Grizzlies were clearly in the beginning stages of a rebuild and wanted to get Gasol out of Memphis. This was not a bad trade by any means. The Raptors may have lost Valanciunas and some role players but they gained a former defensive player of the year in Gasol. This was less of a risk and more of a move that required Gasol to perform to make the trade worth it.

If even one of these risks went wrong Ujiri would look like a terrible GM. Luckily for him, they all panned out. Gasol has performed great in the playoffs and was instrumental in the Raptors defeat of the Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers with his excellent defense on Joel Embiid. Nick Nurse has proven himself to be a fantastic coach. He has made the necessary adjustments in the playoffs that Dwane Casey wasn’t able to. He has coached the Raptors into a historic post-season and is on the verge of winning an NBA championship as a rookie head coach. And Kawhi Leonard is looking better and better in his Raptors uniform. While he hasn’t made a commitment to stay with the Raptors I believe that the chances are looking good that he will stay. Not only that but he has performed incredibly for the Raptors, hitting game winners and averaging 30.7 points-per-game with 50.1% shooting in the playoffs.

With Game 1 of the NBA finals having just concluded and the Raptors essentially dominating the Warriors on both ends of the floor, a Raptors in 6 prediction doesn’t sound so crazy anymore. All these risks that Masai Ujiri took have not only paid off; they just might help the Raptors win their first NBA Championship in franchise history.