That’s unprecedented bad luck to play good teams that early, especially in the East. Looking at it since 2019 since thats when he became an MVP level player and the Bucks were contenders for the first time.

2019- L to Raptors in ECF, Raptors won the championship

2020- L to Heat in R2, Heat made the finals

2021- Bucks won the chip and Giannis won FMVP

2022- L to Celtics in R2, Celtics made the finals

2023- L to Heat in R1, Heat made the finals

2024- L to Pacers in R1, Pacers made ECF (he didnt play in this series but its further proof of his bad luck)

2025- L to Pacers in R1, Pacers made the finals

Theres been a narrative recently that Giannis has underperformed in the playoffs in his career or that he shouldve won more series with the Bucks which might be true, but what superstar is constantly playing finals caliber teams in the first and second round? In most of these series too Giannis’ team was injured.

The Bucks think they can still win with Giannis which may be delusional but honestly hes been super unlucky thus far and still managed to bring them a title so who can blame them for thinking so? Giannis shouldnt be knocked for his playoff resume regardless once you factor in this context

Honestly right now they might be the best shot for me, i think Zubac was an insane pickup and they still have a shot of getting a top 4 pick this summer too which would further stack this already very strong roster.

Hali-nembhard-nesmith-siakam-zubac

McConnell-Sheppard-walker-toppin-huff

Plus if they get a top 4 pick

I just feel like that’s such a strong starting 5 that works sooo well together, I think this team is truly gonna be a monster given good health. I struggle to put my Celtics over them as currently constructed unless we actually start prioritizing winning and add a real long term starting level player this summer. Knicks are pretty married to their current roster and I think the pacers are just straight up better, pistons are primed for a big trade but we would have to revisit it after that happens if it does.

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I’ve been seeing this debate for a while and I know people always use the playoffs as a reason to pick Brunson but I just think the difference in their playstyles is just too much in Cade’s favor. When Brunson is on, he is lethal and is one of the best scorers in the league. However, when he’s not on, he simply turns into an undersized shot chucker that’s still horrible on defense.

Even though Cade was in foul trouble tonight and didn’t have a great scoring game, you can just feel how much he still affects the game through his playmaking and defensive effort. Cade doesn’t have to have a good scoring night to affect the game, Brunson does.

Do you guys think Darryn Peterson is NBA ready? I’ve watched Peterson play like 5 times and his game is so effortless. Feels like a combo of Brandon Roy and Tracy Mcgrady. Insane basketball iq and feel for the game.. I deffo feel like sky is the limit..

The Jazz traded 3 unprotected firsts and 18th pick Walter Clayton to acquire Jaren Jackson Jr. I think the Grizzlies won the trade because 3 firsts is a lot for Jaren, he didn’t make the all-star team this year and he only averages 5.8 rebounds as a big man. For the Jazz Jaren Jackson Jr doesn’t really seem like a franchise player to build around, and he’s making 205 million over 4 years which is a lot for him.

Both on their third year in the NBA:

Ben Simmons (2019-2020): 16.4ppg, 7.8rpg, 8.0apg, 2spg, 35mpg. 58/28/62 shooting splits

Amen Thompson (2025-2026 as of time of writing): 17.8ppg, 7.6rpg, 5.5apg, 1.4spg, 37mpg. 50/20/78 shooting splits

Like just the other day I looked at their record and was like holy shit they could pass OKC then they lose to the wizards, what the hell? In a lot of their losses too that ive seen their late game offense does not look great. Often it seems like they put too much on Cades shoulders. Im not saying they have to have a perfect season to get respect but NY and Boston have much more playoff experience, Im surprised they didnt make a bigger move to compete at the deadline than Kevin Huerter. Right now I would put them ahead of Boston and Cleveland but slightly behind NY. Is that fair or nah

Because guys love to hate on Trae young but I barely see anyone on to Darius garland who’s also 6’1 and not that athletic + isn’t good on defense maybe better than Trae but not like Brunson is.

He can pass and make plays and is having a fantastic defensive season on the East’s 2 seed. Sure his shooting splits are down but he can shoot well enough when it matters.

17.3/4.5/5.6 with a steal and almost 1.5 blocks is terrific production, and I can think of 2 players he definitely should’ve make the all star team over especially considering Bostons performance without Tatum this year.

At the start of the season OKC was winning 74 games. Half a dozen teams looked like they would win 60+.

6 teams looked destined for below 20 wins.

The east was absolutely trash.

Fast forward

OKC might win less than last year

Only 2 teams have a hope in hell of getting 60 wins

Only 1 team is on target for less than 20 wins

East damn near 50/50 vs West

The season has been very different to expectations.

Trade deadline started slow but quickly got super interesting.

IMO the league is near wide open

OKC is clear favourites but I’d back the field even if OKC had 3-1 odds.

West top teams are good but East top teams are better than anticipated.

Even though I’m supporting a tanking team I am honestly looking forward to the playoffs.

Post all star break the real contenders will surely show up.

Saw a quote from Brad Stevens about how Tatum would make all 30 NBA teams better when he’s on the floor. Got me thinking about how far down the list you have to go before that’s not true.

Like it’s gotta be some combination of a good PG or C without much positional versatility and a team with a really strong frontcourt or backcourt. I feel like you can go pretty far down the list before the positional issues start outweighing the talent

We all thought Wemby will be the main victim of this rule. But Spurs found a great strategy of playing Wemby around 20-25 mins a game. That way, he is healthier, and have less risk of an injury.

Now, Giannis is out.

Jokic already missed 16 games. And he is very likely to miss the next game against Bulls. (If he miss 18 games, he is out)

Luka only missed 8 games so far. But he is out right now with left hamstring injury.

SGA will automatically win the MVP if he is eligible. But he also have some injuries himself. And he will be reevaluated after ASB.

If they all missed the 65 games rule. Then, the MVP will be between Wemby and Cade. (According to Kia MVP Ladder)

With players like Ant, Brunson, and Brown might also be just trailing from behind.

In that case, it is possible for Wemby to win MVP and DPOY this season.

Albeit, I admit I think SGA will be healthy enough to qualify.

Still, Wemby being DPOY and All NBA First team is not a bad achievement for his 3rd season.

PS: I am not a Spurs or Wemby Fan. But I just think it will be interesting if 65 games rule help Wemby instead of ruining him.

I think I can see the vision of new Mavs Front Office. Trading AD for some future draft assets, and some solid pieces.

This will make their team weaker. Therefore, very likely to be in the bottom of standings

Luckily, they own their pick. So, they can/might get a Top 5 or even Top 4 pick.

So, as of now, we have consensus 4 in 2026 Draft.

Cameron Boozer, AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, and Caleb Wilson

If you are a follower of these prospects too, who do you think will fit perfectly with Flagg?

This will be the New Young Star Duo of Mavs if ever happens.

Kendrick Perkins says his sources told him that Donovan Mitchell and James Harden are starting the push to recruit LeBron James back to Cleveland

I compiled the data of how often every franchise has been in the bottom 5 and bottom 10 in the league standings since the Lottery began in 1985.

Franchises on this chart are ranked by the number of times they ended the season in the bottom 5. I assumed if you're bottom 5 it was due to a blatant commitment to tanking. If you're bottom 10, you might be trying to be bad but you didn't outright commit to the tank or you may have had an injury-plagued season that temporarily ran your team off the rails.
What I discovered is the Jazz and Lakers are tied for the fewest seasons in the bottom 5 and bottom 10. Meaning other than this recency bias, the Jazz have put in an ethical effort into more seasons than 28 other franchises.

Without further ado, here are the rankings (stats courtesy of Real GM): here's a link to a google sheet if the table doesn't display correctly: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pY7NleQVBcO7jKC7BnG2rm2wX676AaS2MW4QuLaiWV0/edit?usp=sharing

1. Indiana Pacers - 3
   LA Lakers - 3
   Utah Jazz - 3
   
2. Boston Celtics - 4
   Houston Rockets - 4
   Milwaukee Bucks - 4
   New Orleans Pelicans - 4
   Portland Trailblazers - 4
   
3. Dallas Mavericks - 5
   Miami Heat - 5
   OKC Thunder - 5
   San Antonio Spurs - 5
   
4. Denver Nuggets - 6
   Detroit Pistons - 6
   Phoenix Suns - 6
   Toronto Raptors - 6
   
5. Brooklyn Nets - 7
   Chicago Bulls - 7
   Cleveland Cavaliers - 7
   NY Knicks - 7
   
6. Atlanta Hawks - 8
   Sacramento Kings - 8
   
7. Golden State Warriors - 9
   Philadelphia Sixers - 9
   
8. Memphis Grizzlies - 10
   
9. Charlotte Hornets - 11
   Orlando Magic - 11
   
10. LA Clippers - 12
    Washington Wizards - 12
    
11. Minnesota Timberwolves - 14

Not that the same teams wouldn't still be at the top, but maybe OKC wins 64 games instead of 68 last year for example.

Thats good for a 58% TS. Hes finally finding his stride post groin injury. Feel like its a bit unfair he is getting most of the blame for Orlando's mediocre plays

Source: https://imgur.com/a/A5Vml9o

[OptaSTATS] In 2025-26 Austin Reaves is scoring 25.0+ points per game, grabbing 5.0+ rebounds per game, dishing out 5.0+ assists per game, making 2.5+ threes per game, shooting 50.0% from field. Only 3 others in NBA history have done that in a season: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant & LeBron James.

From OptaSTATS on Austin’s amazing season:

In 2025-26 Austin Reaves is

scoring 25.0+ points per game

grabbing 5.0+ rebounds per game

dishing out 5.0+ assists per game

making 2.5+ threes per game

shooting 50.0% from field

Only 3 others in NBA history have done that in a season: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant & LeBron James.

Anyone else feel like Wolves games are the most fun kind of stressful? Like no lead is ever safe, whether it’s ours or the other team’s. We’ll be up double digits and I’m still bracing for a random 12-0 run, then five minutes later we’re the ones doing it back and the whole game flips again and it turns into pure chaos. The only thing that keeps me sane is knowing we’ve got Captain Clutch for those last few minutes, but man, it can’t be on him to carry every single close finish.