Paul Millsap Trade – The Nuggets made a huge move and pulled in Paul Millsap to hold down the 4 spot. He is a 4 time All-Star with years of playoff experience that will be invaluable to this team. He’s also a stretch 4 who likes to rebound and the pairing of he and Jokic is going to be a problem for most front courts.
Dennis Smith, Jr. The future – After years of failure in the draft (and in the offseason) the Mavericks finally appear to have gotten a future All-Star type player in Smith. He was a revelation in the summer league and continues to make highlights with his layup line dunks. The Mavericks haven’t see a point guard with this type of athleticism and for the first time it feels like there may be a suitable replacement for Dirk as the face of the franchise.
Kyrie Trade Request/Drama – In an offseason full of surprises one of the biggest was the sudden Kyrie Irving trade request and the drama that followed. Kyrie clearly was not happy in Cleveland and has found a new home and in his wake he has left a likely hungrier Lebron who suddenly has a loaded roster around him. Kyrie may have actually done Cleveland a favor.
Jimmy Butler Trade: The Rebuild is on- For most of the latter part of the year last season the Bulls flirted with the idea of trading Jimmy Butler. The trade would signal the beginning of a rebuild and I think they were on the fence about whether or not they wanted to go there. In the end, they did and they traded Jimmy to the Timberwolves to be reunited with Thibs. In the trade the Bulls got back some young guys with potential that has not quite been realized and they got an earlier pick. The future is now in the hands of Zach Lavine, Kris Dunn and Lauri Markkanen.
Dwight Howard Addition – After the Big Al era ended the Hornets have tried to hold down the paint with Cody Zeller and Frank Kaminsky but they pulled off a trade to bring in Dwight Howard this offseason while keeping both Frank and Cody so now they are extremely deep in the post. With Cody and Dwight having injury histories this will be a key for them in remaining consistent this year. Dwight will be needed primarily as a rebounder as this has been a weakness for the team since Kemba arrived.
D’Angelo Russell is the future – After years of trade rumors the Nets finally traded Brook Lopez. In the deal they got back D’Angelo Russell and it appears that he will be the future of the franchise. The former number 2 overall pick has not yet shown that he’s going to be the star he is supposed to develop into but the Nets are clearly hoping that he can reach that potential in time.
Kyrie Irving Trade – After seeming like they would never pull the trigger on a trade unless they could truly rob another franchise the Celtics finally did. There are people who question THIS being the deal that they needed to hold out for (Isaiah and Kyrie’s stats are almost identical) and they sent Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and the valuable Nets pick with Isaiah to Cleveland. However, there are others who said that Kyrie is a Superstar where Isaiah is a notch below. Regardless, we will see if Kyrie can get this Celtics team over the hump.
The Rebuild Begins – The Hawks cleaned house and currently have no established stars on their roster for the first time since drafting Josh Smith in 2004. After trading Dwight Howard to the Hornets the Hawks proceeded to lose Tim Hardaway, Jr. and Paul Millsap in Free Agency. Dennis Schroder is now the future in Atlanta along with rookie John Collins. Guys like Prince and Bembry will also compete to be part of that future.
Season 5 is probably the most negative season overall… I feel like all of our main players end on a bad note. I can only think about one person who is doing well currently and that’s Lord Bolton. The people I care about most are dead, not whole, or in precarious positions at the end of Season 5 and I really just want to get to Season 6 now.
I wrapped up Season 4 the other day. As I mentioned in my previous recap, Season 4 is the highest rated season according to IMDB. It has 5 episodes rated 9.6 or higher, before this season no other season had more than 2. While it doesn’t have any of the top 4 episodes (Red Wedding, Season 5: Episode 7, Last 2 episodes of Season 6) but it does have several very strong moments. Quick review, then we’ll get into it.
Bib's Corner 