Basketball from a fans perspective

Best NBA prospects

Who were the most hyped prospects prior to their arrival in the NBA, for this purpose I only returned to 2015 and the following is the why. Prospective NBA players such as Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and others were always touted prior to their arrival in the association. 10 years ago there existed elementary social media nothing compared to the present day. YouTube highlights of athletes existed but nothing close to what exists today, there were fewer opportunities to see these athletes in action.

ESPN, Fox Sports and other venues existed but even those have increased the number of games they broadcast. I will cite an example, after Ja Morant exploded on the scene ESPN ensured several Murray State games would be added to the broadcast schedule. Keep in mind my list contains players that were hyped by the media, this has nothing to do once they arrived in the NBA. Prior to reading the list keep in mind this is preceding their NBA play, in addition these are not in any order just as the names were compiled. Your list might be different from mine and that’s okay:

Victor Wembanyama

Zion Williamson

Cooper Flagg

Luka Doncic

Ben Simmons

Ja Morant

Lonzo Ball

Cade Cunningham

Karl-Anthony Towns

Paolo Banchero

Two swings and two misses

37-year old John Scheyer ain’t won nothing yet, despite that fact his journey to this point is quite fascinating. After his play at Duke he played in the G-League and later it would be Spain and Israel prior to becoming an assistant under Coach K. Once it was announced the legendary coach was retiring who would replace him? We don’t know this to be a fact but Coach K. would have been consulted on who would take over the basketball program. It was announced Scheyer an assistant since 2014 would become head coach but that was not the first belief. Prior to taking over the Duke program there must have been trepidations assuming the role in place of a legend however that didn’t appear to be the case.

Scheyer interviewed for two head coaching jobs one at DePaul and the other at UNLV prior to Coach K’s retirement. Of course neither school hired him, which they might regret to this day although I doubt they would admit it. Both would eventually replace the coaches they believed were better candidate over Scheyer. In his interview Scheyer admitted he was sure UNLV was going to hire him. In his three years at the helm Duke’s won 89 games, 27 in his first year 27 in year two and this recent season 35 games. Scheyer’s first year Duke made the Round of 32, last season it was an Elite Eight finish and to date his team is in the Final Four. I realize swinging and missing applies to baseball but in this instance I’m going to apply it to basketball. DePaul and UNLV accomplished just that…both swung and missed, could Scheyer have changed their fortunes?

In his opinion

A member of the media wrote an article indicating Austin Reaves had become the third best option in the NBA or something along those lines. Then former NBA player Lou Williams claimed, “Reaves is not the third best option in in the NBA, he’s not even the third best in Los Angeles, that would be Norman Powell.” Well opinions are just that however I don’t agree with this former players observation. Check this out, Reaves is nearly 20 points a game while Powell is at 22.4. As for rebounds it’s 4.4 for Reaves while Powell is 3.3 a game, the assists are Reaves with nearly 6 a game while Powell is at 2.2.

As for shooting the basketball Powell is 48.7% and 42.4% from three, Reaves is 45.4% and 36% from three. The one area most difficult for us to assess as fans is a players defensive rating, everything I could locate indicates Reaves and Powell are sometimes a mix bag on defense. So we have numbers to compare the two Los Angeles players and I can only come to one conclusion. Both players have continued to demonstrate value to their respective teams, based on the evidence I was able to uncover I’d have great difficulty pronouncing Powell a better third option over that of Reaves. As I often say, “I’m from Missouri, you’ve got to Show Me.” Based on my findings I believe Lou Williams is entitled to his opinion however based on my findings I’m unsure if he providing any proof of his view to me. 

What is this and is it accurate

If you check an NBA box score on ESPN it contains an interesting bit of information. Placed in front of a players point total is a +/-, what does it imply? Rather than attempt to offer my elementary explanation I thought it best to seek an internet explanation for this. The following is the AI definition; “In NBA box scores, “plus-minus (+/-) is a statistic that measures a player’s impact on the game by tracking the net change in the score when that player is on the court, compared to when they are off.”

Suppose I have a 40 point 15 rebound game yet my team fails to hold the lead to the end, my negative +/- rating is reduced significantly although I may have played an outstanding game. I’m not picking on ESPN alone, this from CBS Sports NBA page. In the recent Sunday game won by the Cavs over the Clippers, this occurred, Jarrett Allen of the Cavs scored 45 points yet had a 0 +/- rating, think I am confused you better bet I am. The Clippers James Harden had a 44 point game and a -17 rating. So what occurs, for me I’ve played little attention to this feature and without a clear understanding I will continue to ignore it.

There is always a question of where 

Jeff Teague, an NBA player from 2009 to 2021, spent most of his career with the Hawks but never played for the Jazz. Despite this, he has expressed negative opinions about the franchise, saying, "He’s (Cooper Flagg) gonna get picked by the Jazz, but I hate it. I hate it." Teague's issue lies with the team's mediocre performance over the years, not Salt Lake City or Utah. If Flagg declares for the draft, he could be selected by the Jazz. Despite the Teague statement other teams might also be in the mix for the top pick. The NBA draft lottery means that the team with the worst record doesn't always get the first pick.

For example, in the 2024 draft, the Wizards had the first pick despite not having the worst record; the Pistons did. Similarly, in the 2023 draft, the Spurs had the first pick, selecting Victor Wembanyama, even though they were tied with the Rockets in the standings. 2022 saw the Magic select Paolo Banchero although they had two more wins than the Pistons. So as you can see it’s the draft lottery which determines which NBA city is likely to become home for Flagg at least during his rookie year. Even that’s not set in stone, for instance the Mavs drafted Trae Young while the Hawks picked Luka Doncic, draft night saw the two change cities through a trade.