The Kelly Oubre Effect
If history holds, whenever the Hornets move on from Oubre, they'll vault to the top of the conference.
About a year ago, Nacho Oubre was misfiring from three and looking lost in Golden State. He chaffed at the idea of coming off the bench and sought a big payday and a bigger role elsewhere. Golden State wasn't sad to see him leave. For reasons unknown to science, Oubre has bought in to a bench role in Charlotte, and if his team gets up approximately 20 points, Maximum Oubre activates.
In a 158-126 win over the frustrated Indiana Pacers, Oubre hit 10 of 15 threes and scored 39 points off the bench.
If history holds, whenever the Hornets move on from Oubre, they'll vault to the top of the conference. Before Golden State, Oubre left Phoenix — and they burned through the Bubble and went to the Finals the following year.
Jokic or Giannis?
Tonight, my girlfriend and I got home from date night and put on League Pass. I threw on Nets-Nuggets because the score looked close, and the screen froze on Joker's face mid-cutaway — making the MVP look a bit drunk and dazzled on the court.
"I can't believe a guy who looks like this is the best player in the world," I told my girlfriend.
"He's not — Giannis is definitely better," she replied with quickness.
A couple things...
You can't see it, but I'm throwing a huge fist pump in the air. I've successfully convinced her to watch enough basketball to the point in which she has reasonable NBA takes.
Also — is she wrong? Both have been historically dominant, but if they were traded for each other right now... I think the Bucks would be worse and the Nuggets would be better.
I'm still workshopping this. I'm not sure if I entirely believe it. It does make me grateful that the NBA has Jokic, Giannis, and Embiid all at the same time, though, because each are incredible to watch and we should not take them for granted.
Cleveland Is The Reason
The Cavs handled the Bucks — with Giannis, Jrue and Middleton all playing. Worst of all, they let an old man who looks like a cartoon turtle drop in this filthy shot:
Nets set the story straight
Ahh, the trade deadline posturing continues.
Of course the Nets won't trade Harden. Why would this even be a story? Oh, wait — because his former protege Shams Charania (a direct link to Klutch Sports) has been sloppy in his reporting, allowing Daryl Morey and the Sixers to pull Harden and the Nets into public rumors in order to gain leverage in potential Ben Simmons trades.
If this is how I sound right now, it's also how I feel:
I do believe I'm right. The Sixers, despite both Morey and Embiid saying that they're fine with playing this season with this roster, are still trying to get the Hawks and Kings to bite on a Simmons trade. What's the best strategy to get them to pull the trigger? Threatening to take Simmons off the table.
The Nets, caught in the crosshairs of all of this, rightfully set the story straight with Adrian Wojnarowski. James Harden could heel turn and ask out behind closed doors, but no reasonable team has the cap space to pay Harden outside of Brooklyn, and the Nets probably don't want to swap Harden for Simmons.
Links
Mark Schindler of BasketballNews.com on Cade Cunningham, carving up defenses with pace & creativity.​
Corey Tulaba of No Ceilings with an outstanding profile on Jaden Hardy, using the legendary scene from Saved By The Bell to perfectly explain his position.
The Ringer's Rob Mahoney on Seth Curry, the perfect blend of Steph and Dell.​
Nekias Duncan on Amir Coffey, the next Clipper to shine in the absence of their stars.