Seventyniner
10-21-2024, 09:38 PM
https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/10/21/24273509/nba-season-preview-2024-trades-boston-celtics-luka-doncic
3. Victor Wembanyama will be the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. This has never happened before. Neither has Wembanyama. If the over/under on career Defensive Player of the Year awards for him was 4.5—Rudy Gobert, Ben Wallace, and Dikembe Mutombo are tied for the most with four apiece—I would seriously consider taking the over. He’s the most intimidating and provocative defender alive, someone I thought would win as a rookie (and who eventually received my actual vote (https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/4/11/24126870/nba-awards-2024-mvp-nikola-jokic-luka-doncic) before finishing as Gobert’s runner-up). Wemby protects the paint, blocks jumpers, and single-handedly turns fast-break chances into half-court slogs (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YtIQy2JoEAQ). His impact is unparalleled.
(Related: I hope Bam Adebayo wins one during his prime. It’s nearly a cliché at this point, but no individual’s impact on one side of the ball is more casually taken for granted than everything Bam does on defense.)
Bonus Spurs-related predictions: Devin Vassell will win Most Improved Player, and San Antonio will win more games than the Lakers.
I can get behind this one, though the bonus is a bit much.
22. The Los Angeles Clippers will trade Kawhi Leonard....
Leonard to San Antonio for Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes, Stephon Castle, and Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2031.
Pardon the sentimental wishcasting, but this would be an incredible full-circle moment that’d make everyone—except teams that otherwise wouldn’t have to seriously worry about San Antonio for another few years—feel warm and fuzzy.
I understand all the ways this upturns the rich soil San Antonio was disciplined enough to put down even before it landed Wembanyama: its patient strategy to peak during its 20-year-old phenom’s prime. Yes. Got it. I agree and think it’s commendable. I also understand how cumbersome this trade could be if Leonard never again comes close to resembling the Terminator who obliterated everything in his path before he tore his ACL in the 2021 playoffs. But you know what would be even cooler than a slow and steady rebuild? Pairing Kawhi with Wembanyama and immediately becoming a championship contender that still has control of all its own draft capital and didn’t have to give up Devin Vassell.
There are probably some fences that need to be mended between Kawhi and his former team. Any reunion might be a bridge too far. But Gregg Popovich’s respect for Leonard was clear last year when he scolded Spurs fans (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38972722/spurs-gregg-popovich-no-regrets-chiding-fans-booing-leonard) for booing someone who won a Finals MVP in their favorite team’s jersey.
If you’re the Clippers, this is probably as good as it gets; they’re in need of an escape hatch, so one blue-chip prospect plus decent draft compensation isn’t going to solve all their problems—but to get started on whatever the next era will look like, it’s the best they can realistically ask for.
Oh hell naw.
I can see why Pina ended the article with this as the boldest prediction of them all, but there is no way the Spurs would take on three years of Number Two's contract when he can maybe give you 30 games a season at this point and the rest of the roster isn't ready to contend yet anyway. Let alone give up on Castle already.
3. Victor Wembanyama will be the unanimous Defensive Player of the Year. This has never happened before. Neither has Wembanyama. If the over/under on career Defensive Player of the Year awards for him was 4.5—Rudy Gobert, Ben Wallace, and Dikembe Mutombo are tied for the most with four apiece—I would seriously consider taking the over. He’s the most intimidating and provocative defender alive, someone I thought would win as a rookie (and who eventually received my actual vote (https://www.theringer.com/nba/2024/4/11/24126870/nba-awards-2024-mvp-nikola-jokic-luka-doncic) before finishing as Gobert’s runner-up). Wemby protects the paint, blocks jumpers, and single-handedly turns fast-break chances into half-court slogs (https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YtIQy2JoEAQ). His impact is unparalleled.
(Related: I hope Bam Adebayo wins one during his prime. It’s nearly a cliché at this point, but no individual’s impact on one side of the ball is more casually taken for granted than everything Bam does on defense.)
Bonus Spurs-related predictions: Devin Vassell will win Most Improved Player, and San Antonio will win more games than the Lakers.
I can get behind this one, though the bonus is a bit much.
22. The Los Angeles Clippers will trade Kawhi Leonard....
Leonard to San Antonio for Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes, Stephon Castle, and Minnesota’s first-round pick in 2031.
Pardon the sentimental wishcasting, but this would be an incredible full-circle moment that’d make everyone—except teams that otherwise wouldn’t have to seriously worry about San Antonio for another few years—feel warm and fuzzy.
I understand all the ways this upturns the rich soil San Antonio was disciplined enough to put down even before it landed Wembanyama: its patient strategy to peak during its 20-year-old phenom’s prime. Yes. Got it. I agree and think it’s commendable. I also understand how cumbersome this trade could be if Leonard never again comes close to resembling the Terminator who obliterated everything in his path before he tore his ACL in the 2021 playoffs. But you know what would be even cooler than a slow and steady rebuild? Pairing Kawhi with Wembanyama and immediately becoming a championship contender that still has control of all its own draft capital and didn’t have to give up Devin Vassell.
There are probably some fences that need to be mended between Kawhi and his former team. Any reunion might be a bridge too far. But Gregg Popovich’s respect for Leonard was clear last year when he scolded Spurs fans (https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/38972722/spurs-gregg-popovich-no-regrets-chiding-fans-booing-leonard) for booing someone who won a Finals MVP in their favorite team’s jersey.
If you’re the Clippers, this is probably as good as it gets; they’re in need of an escape hatch, so one blue-chip prospect plus decent draft compensation isn’t going to solve all their problems—but to get started on whatever the next era will look like, it’s the best they can realistically ask for.
Oh hell naw.
I can see why Pina ended the article with this as the boldest prediction of them all, but there is no way the Spurs would take on three years of Number Two's contract when he can maybe give you 30 games a season at this point and the rest of the roster isn't ready to contend yet anyway. Let alone give up on Castle already.