NBA (Further) Free Agency Frenzy
Wow.
Ok, a lot has happened since I recorded and dropped my NBA Free Agency podcast last week. Over the course of the show, I made one or two predictions *cough* *Kawhi Leonard* *cough* that may not have been so accurate. Some of my predictions (and the predictions of many others) also turned out to be incorrect and HOLY SHIT look at where we are now.
We were all so caught up in free agency that we forgot about trades! So many trades…
For those of you who did listen to the podcast (thank you, btw) you’ll recall that the biggest points I left in the episode were that the Brooklyn Nets are going to be the next dynasty in the Eastern Conference while the Los Angeles Lakers would be in control of the West. I also explained why I believe the Golden State Warriors’ dynasty is over and why it’s beginning to crumble as we speak. To close the show, I did what all of America was having fun doing at the time… mocking and laughing at the New York Knicks and the idiocy of their front office.
I (and America) said it before and I’ll (we’ll) say it again… sell the team!
Now that that’s out of the way, I did say a certain guarantee that y’all can go back and quote me on, but you really can’t blame me for thinking this way. I guaranteed that Kawhi Leonard going to the Los Angeles Lakers was a done deal. After all, who the hell is going to turn down playing on a superteam with LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Kyle Kuzma and now DeMarcus Cousins?!
Welp, it turns out the reigning Finals MVP is going to LA… but is going to play for that other basketball team that plays in the Staples Center. And not only is he going to the Clippers, but he convinced Paul George to go with him. The news that both Leonard and George signed onto the Los Angeles Clippers made my eyes pop out of my skull.
I looked like a Looney Tunes character come to life.
No one… no one in their right mind even remembered that the Clippers even existed after the Lakers signed Davis and Boogie. As far as everyone (myself included) was concerned, the Lakers had the West seized and were going to win the Finals next year. But now with the arrivals of Leonard and George, a new question has to be asked: Are the Lakers even the best basketball team in LA?
This isn’t just a question posed to pass the time and make the Clippers feel relevant. This is a legit question.
The Los Angeles Clippers not only signed two of the biggest All-Stars in the league, but they also resigned star point guard Patrick Beverley. The Clippers’ starting five includes Leonard, George, Beverley, 7-foot, 1-inch tall center Ivaka Zubac and Wichita State alum Landry Shamet.
As far as I’m concerned, that’s equal footing with the Lakers’ projected starting five of James, Davis, Kuzma, Boogie and former Clipper — Avery Bradley.
I, like hundreds of thousands of others, was not expecting Leonard to choose to face James head-on rather than play with him and I definitely wasn’t expecting the PG13 trade as well. The Battle for LA is set up to be the most competitive it may have ever been and for NBA fans, it’s going to be a great series of games to watch over the next couple of years.
But then just when everyone thinks the Leonard decision was going to be the appropriate ending to an insane NBA offseason, word gets out that Russell Westbrook is open to a trade out of Oklahoma City…
Ok, wait… really?
Russell Westbrook is an NBA MVP, one of the best players in the world and has spent all 11 years of his NBA career with the Thunder. Oklahoma City isn’t about to trade away the only player from their original big three away… right?
Oh my God, they actually did it.
The Leonard decision was surprising, but at the end of the day, everyone knew that a decision was going to happen. No one expected Russell Westbrook to leave Oklahoma City in a trade that would reunite him in Houston with former teammate James Harden in exchange for Chris Paul and future draft pick. For those of us who had just managed to get our jaws back in place after dropping them over the Leonard deal, they dropped twice as fast when this happened.
Look, the Oklahoma City Thunder received a great veteran basketball player in CP3, but the man is four years older than Russell Westbrook and is going to be the field general of a franchise that is going into full-blown rebuild mode. It was on the horizon for OKC, but the departure of Westbrook — the face of your team… city… state — has made only brought you to the inevitable sooner rather than later.
As for the Houston Rockets, seeing Westbrook and Harden reunited from a fans’ perspective is amazing and is only going to lead to more entertaining basketball in the upcoming season. However, there are some saying that the move may cripple Houston in the sense that Westbrook and Harden aren’t going to be able to get over their egos and play effectively come tip-off.
Since leaving OKC back in the day, James Harden has developed into one of the best players in the NBA and is arguably the face of all Houston sports. Russell Westbrook only became better as the years passed without Durant or Harden and was unquestionably the leader of the Thunder. The question now in Houston is whose team is this?
No question, it should still be James Harden’s. But if that’s the call, is Westbrook going to be able to play shotgun or second fiddle to his old teammate that has far outgrown being the third-wheel since his days with OKC?
I personally can see the two blending well on the court again like old times and focusing solely on getting a championship… something neither of them has yet, but growing pains wouldn’t be a surprise to see if there is a slight identity crisis regarding leadership with the Rockets.
The Leonard and Westbrook trades were both definitely unexpected in their own right, but there is one side effect from both of these that now resonates over the entire league. Balance.
Think of it this way — if every team in the NBA (or nearly every team) is a super team… then no one is. Yeah, the Lake Show in Southern Cali has LeBron, AD & Boogie… but the Clippers just leveled the Staples Center with new contracts for Kawhi, PG13 and Beverley. And even with their new additions, they still have to dethrone a still-talented Golden State squad as the best team in California first.
Yea, the Nets just added KD, Kyrie and DeAndre Jordan… but The Process that is the Philadelphia 76ers is still arguably the best team in the East with Embiid, Ben Simmons and Al Horford. Boston is also still a threat and will still be competitive throughout the Playoffs. Gordon Heyward and Kemba Walker will make sure of that.
The Rockets just added Russell Westbrook to their already impressive roster… but they lost Chris Paul. The Raptors are NBA Champions and still one of the most dangerous teams in the league… but they lost Leonard.
There is a sense of oddly-satisfying balance throughout the NBA right now and it has gotten me more excited for an upcoming NBA season than I can recall in several recent years. Gone is the notion that you immediately know who’s going to win the NBA Finals before the season even begins. Gone is the feeling of knowing Golden State is going to win it all anyway, so why bother watching the regular season; just wait for the playoffs to start.
Most importantly, gone is the notion that everyone thinks they know how free agency works. The era of the superteam may be coming to an end in exchange for the era of player control.
It’s a new day and a new era in the NBA.
Everyone has a new start. Everyone has a new purpose. Everyone is ready for the first tip-off.
…except for the New York Knicks. They still have no idea what the hell they’re doing.
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