Basketball from a fans perspective

Patrick Mahomes vs the NBA

The QB plays for the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL, he’s not competing on the basketball court. Despite my statement a couple of talk radio sports host believes that is the case. Before I go any further allow me to state I love Mahomes, he is the best quarterback now possibly in NFL history. That’s a discussion for another time allow me to elaborate. The afternoon host were discussing the new contract Mahomes signed with the Adidas brand. They mentioned how important it was for Mahomes, thanks to three Super Bowl wins the Chiefs QB has become the face of the NFL.

One host mentioned Michael Jordan and the Air Jordan brand, he expressed a belief Mahomes would be “competing with MJ eventually.” At this juncture the conversation went off the rails in my view. He mentioned the fact the NFL exports games to Europe every year and eventually it will go to the African continent. That can only grow NFL fans in these foreign lands, no argument there. This is where these host are off base, football cleats are no comparison to basketball shoes. The Air Jordan brand is engrained in the minds of basketball fans, I could see Mahomes increasing the sale of Adidas. Passing MJ is going to be a mighty mountain for the Chiefs QB or anyone else.

There is player movement

I can’t address the NHL, I don’t know hockey but the NBA is a different matter. Of all professional sports the NBA has the most player movement of all. Free agency and trades exist in baseball and football but nothing close to what exists in the NBA. For fans that can be a good and a sad thing depending on circumstances. Teams believing that single player can lead to an NBA championship will sign him to a huge contract hoping for the ultimate reward.

On the other hand the best intentions sometimes fail to get the results expected, we can look at the Los Angeles Clippers as the example. They signed Kawhi Leonard after he’d led the Raptor to an NBA championship. He probably said, “I can’t do this by myself I need Paul George to aid our cause. That was 2019 and as George departs for the Sixers the Clippers are yet to win a championship. According to NBA on Clutch Points “the duo (of Leonard and George) won a total of 13 playoff games.” The overall playoff record…13 wins and 13 losses surely much more was expected. Although the .com site provided the dollars paid the two I’m not going there. The truth is injuries severely derailed the championships the team was supposed to have won. There is a secondary factor to look at…the trade. The Clippers drafted a combo guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander but included him in a trade for George. Also included in the trade was Danilo Gallinari and a host of draft choices.

I have a co-worker who says I cannot claim the draft choices as given away since we don’t have the ability to determine the outcome. That might be partially true however continuing to deal draft choices will eventually come back and bite you in the butt. My argument says you can anytime you have no first-round draft choice till 2029 or 2030. His counter argument is if a team wins they would be drafting somewhere between 27 to 30 which is true. Consider this fact, NBA teams have found gems (it could be luck) in the second round of a draft. If there is any finger pointing some of it should be aimed at the Clipper front office.

How did the Spurs do

By now you have become aware I’m a fan of the San Antonio Spurs, they are probably my second favorite NBA team. After watching a number of their games on ESPN or NBA TV I know where help is needed. I was anxious to see how their draft turned out, as I mentioned they are a young team. Adding additional youth might not prove beneficial immediately…on the other hand the right guy could make a dramatic difference. With pick number 4 they chose Stephon Castle a 6-7 210-pound combo guard. The nation and world became acquainted with him with the stretch run UConn made in winning the 2024 NCAA tourney.

Interesting I checked the ESPN NBA page and the Spurs page. They have Castle listed as the starter at shooting guard, whether that comes about is another question. With pick number 8 the Spurs selected Rob Dillingham point guard from Kentucky, they immediately traded his draft rights to the Wolves for future draft choices. The Spurs were not finished with dealing, they acquired Juan Nunez a 6-5-point guard from Spain with pick 36, the early word he might remain overseas. This is not surprising news, the Spurs have done this type of arrangement in the past. With pick 48 they selected Harrison Ingram a 6-5 small forward who played his college basketball at North Carolina. The Spurs look improved for the 2024-25 NBA season however we must begin play first to affirm that belief.

This is modern basketball, what changed

Donovan Clingan and Zach Edey have been drafted, since this is written ahead of time I have no idea by whom. This draft is different for several reasons the chief one we have two traditional Big Men chosen earlier than normal. Clingan from UConn stands 7 feet 2 inches in height and weighs 280 pounds, Zach Edey played at Purdue, his individual stats, 7 feet 4 and 300 pounds. These two faced one another in the 2024 NCAA championship game won by UConn 75-60. They will face off again in the NBA, hold on there a moment. Before you began thinking Kareem Abdul Jabbar versus Robert Parrish or Shaquille O’Neal against Dwight Howard this is not that NBA…there’s been a change in the manner the game is played now.

There are two culprits I say are to blame for the change in how the NBA game is played today, they are Dirk Nowitzki and Steph Curry. Dirk was drafted by the Mavs in 1998, up to that time 7-foot players were all post players, there were few players of that height playing any position except center. Not only did Dirk have the height of a center he weighed 245 pounds the equivalent or exceeding the weight of some centers yet he played power forward. He could shoot and shoot from distance out to the 3-line, culprit 1. Next up we have Steph Curry, after three ‘pedestrian’ NBA seasons some of it due to injury year four became a breakout year for him. Steph began his prolific shooting from distance, this has continued from that point up to the present he’s proven to be a lights out shooter, he becomes culprit 2. In addition he’s got 4 NBA Championship rings proving his proficiency. So there you have the two individuals I believe are why NBA offenses went away from post play. There is one other consideration as well, analytics I’m sure must have been in the mix as well.

“As long as there’s basketball, there’s always a place for those guys. But big men now more than ever, are role players,” one Eastern Conference scout told ESPN. “It’s like running backs in the NFL—they used to be what your offense featured, now they’re complementary by nature, outside of the two or three that are incredible. So if you’re going into it (from that perspective), who are the guys with the best complementary skills?” Although the Mavs lost the Finals we witnessed that type of play with Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively from the center position. Kristaps Porzingis of the Celtics when healthy also provided the skills pointed out. There are other Big Men candidates who will be in the 2024 draft, how they adapt to play in the NBA will likely vary.