People LOVE Power Rankings in sports. It’s pretty stupid. So, of course, I have MY Stupid Power Rankings. I take 10 things from the NBA (or not) in the past week and rank them accordingly. You don’t like them? Make your own rankings!
These rankings are from what’s happened in the last full week before the NBA all-star break. We took a couple weeks off because of the tragedy that happened. Now we’re back with these 10 things:
(VIDEO CREDIT: Bleacher Report.)
1) The Defending Champions Are Unstoppable
We haven’t done Power Rankings in 3 weeks but if we were to do a countdown from the LAST 3 weeks, they’d STILL be on top of this list.
They’ve won 14 straight games. They beat Indiana twice and eeked out win over Brooklyn but the fact is that they haven’t been beaten in nearly a month. I don’t care if I’m making up for the last couple of weeks but I will remind everyone that the RAPTORS ARE CHAMPIONS UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
2) Andre Iguodala Cashes In
Iguodala hasn’t played all year. But not only does he get traded to Miami by Memphis but he actually got an extension that could potentially get him a total of $30 million. That’s the American dream, man.
Same arena. Same basket. Same dunk. 19 years apart. 💜💛 pic.twitter.com/fj7HRmqv3c
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) February 8, 2020
3) Maybe A Kobe Homage By LeBron
It’s sublime. Just watch it. Like 24 times over. Or more.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Stacy Bengs/AP.)
4) The Wolves’ New Attack
The Wolves made deals that could potentially stretch the floor. They got guys like D’Angelo Russell, Juancho Hernangomez, and Malik Beasley. The Andrew Wiggins era ended with that trade.
The result? Even without Russell, they nailed 26 three-pointers in an upset win against the Clippers. Obviously, that’s not sustainable but if they can be perimeter threats every game, that drastically changes the Wolves.
Now to work on that defense…
(PHOTO CREDIT: Sean Gardner/Getty Images.)
5) Dillon Brooks Also Cashes In
Dillon Brooks, who was subject to a trade that got cancelled because they got some names mixed up, had some spicy things to say about Iguodala. Some people thought that he should just shut up and play but I, for one, like this bravado from Dillon. He SHOULD be a little ticked off that Dre didn’t choose to play with them. And he DID acknowledge that Iguodala was doing the best thing for himself and it was fine.
Then a couple of days later, Brooks got an extension for 3 years and $35 million. So he cashed in right after as well. He HAS been playing some good ball this season for the surprising Grizzlies. The timing was just hilarious.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Yong Kim/Philadelphia Inquirer.)
6) Korkmaz After The Deadline
The Sixers made deals at the deadline to get more shooters. But after that deadline, Furkan Korkmaz went for 34 and 31 points in consecutive games. Ya know, maybe the Sixers had their answer all along. NO PUN INTENDED.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Melissa Phillips/Houston Chronicle.)
7) Rockets Small Ball
The Rockets dealt Clint Capela as they went all in on their small ball philosophy. Well, they’re 1-2 since that deal. They upset the Lakers (who are still obviously trying to navigate through the Kobe tragedy) but then they got smashed by the Suns and lost on a buzzer-beater against Utah.
Mixed results thus far. It CAN work. But we’ll see if it nets them the championship.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Detroit Free Press.)
8) Andre Drummond Trade Was Not Great
The Andre Drummond era in Detroit is over. And it ended with quite the whimper. Drummond was basically a salary dump by the Pistons. Who did the Cavs trade for him? John Henson (hurt), Brandon Knight (last time he was a Piston… well…), and a second round pick from 2023. Yikes. And the Cavs didn’t really trade any of their main bigs so now they have a glut of them.
Drummond still went for 19 points and 14 boards in his Cavs debut but I mean, he’s still playing for the Cavs.
The goaltending on Damian Lillard’s shot is crystal clear! 🤯 pic.twitter.com/dQgjf7bDnf
— ClutchPoints NBA (@ClutchPointsNBA) February 8, 2020
9) The Missed Goaltending Call
I talked about this at length in this entry. But man, how could they miss that call?! I don’t blame for Damian Lillard for being mad at all. If they miss the postseason by a game, this is the event everyone will look at.
I’ll give the NBA credit, though, for not fining Lillard. He was right to gripe about this entire thing.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Kent Smith/Getty Images.)
10) The Hornets’ Nest is Emptying
They had a shot at the postseason early in the season. And then we didn’t hear from them for weeks because they kept losing. Finally, they decided it’s realy an earnest time to rebuild. They let go of Marvin Williams and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist in previous days. They do have some building blocks for a base. So good luck to them doing this. Some teams never get out of this phase while some have been successful in the process.
GG.
Rey-Rey is on Twitter at @TheNoLookPass.
TNLP on FaceBook.
For the rest of the season, I will sign off with GG, which usually means “Good Game.” But we also know “Gigi” is Gianna Bryant’s nickname. This will be my tribute to her.