It’s Time To Trade Ben Simmons
From the millionth reason why Ben Simmons needs to be traded to the potential re-emergence of Jarrett Culver, I talked about everything notable from last night.
Utah Jazz (118) vs Philadelphia 76ers (96)
When you go to Philadelphia, you’re going to get a lot of things. From its rich history to its even richer food, Philly is a great American city. Do you want to know what else you’re going to find in Philly? Crappy sports teams. It’s part of their brand.
After an injury-riddled losing streak, Philly had been playing better up until this game. The Jazz cruised to a win, outscoring the lethargic 76ers by 15 in the 2nd half. Philly struggled on both sides of the ball, with Utah collecting their second dominating win over them this season.
Philly’s poor performance also forces me to talk about the Jazz, which is the cruelest part of this whole thing.
Rudy Gobert Is A 3x DPOY Winner For A Reason, Patrick
After the Jazz stomped on Minnesota by 32 points a couple of nights ago, Patrick Beverley had some choice words for one of the best defensive players of our generation.
If I’m [the] defensive player of the year, I’m always guarding the best player no matter what. I’m not roaming. It’s no discredit to Royce O’Neale or any of the others on their team, but if I’m defensive player of the year, I’m not guarding Royce O’Neale. I’m guarding Mike Conley, I’m guarding Donovan Mitchell, I’m guarding Bogdanovic. You got Rudy Gobert out there guarding [Jarred] Vanderbilt. And every time I hear he’s defensive player of the year. So, uh, whatever
Other than the obvious, which is that Patrick Beverley is stupid, there were a few stray jabs thrown in this quote;
- Dissing Royce O’Neale and Jarred Vanderbilt, two solid players, in the same quote? I get that guarding Royce O’Neale isn’t hard, but why’d he have to do his own teammate like that?
- Guarding both Conley and Donovan Mitchell, two All-Stars is impressive. But guarding Bojan Bogdanovic? I think that guarding Jordan Clarkson is a little bit harder than guarding Bogdanovic, who can’t jump over a quarter.
While you can admire Beverley’s cockiness, one thing is for certain. He doesn’t understand the immense defensive value of the Stifle Tower.
Patrick Beverley may call this just “roaming,” but it’s a lot more than that. Furkan Korkmaz stops in his tracks in avoidance of Gobert.
A shovel pass to Drummond doesn’t bear any fruit either, as Gobert blocks the shot. Again, more than just “roaming.”
How are you even supposed to score on this guy? Tobias Harris loses all his momentum to the rim when he meets Gobert. That’s not even the best part about this play, in my opinion.
You see that little tap to Donovan Mitchell at the end of the clip? That’s Bill Russell-esque right there.
Rudy Gobert is a good defender
Whoa. I might get ahead of myself.
Philadelphia 76ers
At least Minshew Mania can keep you distracted from this team. The 76ers are a confusing team, to say the least. At times they look like a competent team. When they’re able to play through Joel Embiid and get guys like Maxey and Seth Curry going, they’ve looked good.
But their defense, without he who shall not be named, has been poor this season (21st in defensive rating). The shooting comes and goes like the heartburn from eating a cheesesteak. Currently, at 14-12, the 76ers are one of the biggest mysteries in the NBA.
It’s Time
After watching this team continue to struggle on offense, it’s clear what needs to happen. Philly is trying to keep their heads above water and it would be a lot easier to do so if they weren’t throwing $30 million dollars down the drain. That wasted $30 million is going to Ben Simmons.
The saga has come to a halt after it seemed like Simmons would return to play for the 76ers. But, we haven’t heard anything from either side about a trade looming, which is disappointing. There are one million good reasons to trade Ben Simmons. Above all else, it would make the 76ers significantly better to get rid of their cancerous “All-Star”.
Philly wants a team’s lungs, kidneys, and liver in return for Ben Simmons. They want the barn for a player who doesn’t even deserve hay. Daryl Morey and upper 76ers management are waiting for that perfect deal to happen, which won’t happen.
With Indiana about to start a firesale and Portland treading water for the umpteenth year in a row, the 76ers have a perfect opportunity to try and trade Ben Simmons.
Indiana Pacers Receive: Ben Simmons
Philadelphia 76ers Receive: Damian Lillard
Portland Trail Blazers Receive: Domantas Sabonis – Caris Levert – 2023 Protected FRP (IND) – Tyrese Maxey – 2022 FRP – 2027 FRP
Would anyone say no to this trade?
- The Pacers get a potential cornerstone for their rebuild in Simmons.
- The 76ers get their superstar backcourt player to pair alongside Joel Embiid.
- The Blazers get three first-round picks plus two good players. With Nurkic and Covington on their way out, Sabonis and Levert are guys who can play in the Rose City long-term.
The bottom line is simple: just trade Ben. Please?
You’ve Got To Be Kidding Me (Lakers Edition)
This is precisely why I don’t talk about the Lakers. After singing their praises following a dominant win against Boston, I was ready for them to get going. Four weeks of inconsistent play from this star-studded group was too much, I declared. It was time to see what the Lakers could be when they were clicking.
The Lakers came into Memphis as the heavy favorites. The Grizzlies were without Ja Morant, Brandon Clarke, Dillon Brooks, and Ziaire Williams. If that wasn’t enough, the Lakers had the home-court advantage in this game. All of those factors would lead you to believe that LA dominated this game, right?
Nope. After a fast start, the Lakers fell asleep. LA committed 22 turnovers, half of them from Lebron & Westbrook, leading to 27 Grizzly points. Add in a 17-1 advantage for Memphis in the 2nd chance department, and BOOM! You LOSE!
The Lakers have beaten Miami, Charlotte, and Boston this season. But they’ve also lost to the Thunder twice, the Timberwolves, Sacramento, and now a very short-handed Grizzlies team. Every other game, we see a different Lakers team on the floor.
Quotes
The worst part of this game, for me, was listening to the postgame press conferences. Just listening to the frustration in the voices of the players and coaches hurts, even though I hate the Lakers. They want this inconsistency gone as much as the next man. Unless the next man was Mel Gibson. Shoutout Ricky Gervais.
Some games we have (shown consistency), some games we didn’t, Davis said. Tonight we didn’t, against Boston we did. It’s just got to be a more consistent thing. That’s our biggest problem right now is consistency. We come out certain games and don’t play how we’re supposed to play and games like Boston, we come out and play great. We have to be a more consistent team if we want to truly compete for a championship. It’s a mindset thing.
Anthony Davis
Amidst this 13-13 start to the season, Frank Vogel has stepped onto the giant red X in the eyes of Lakers faithful. While I partially agree that his poor rotations and defensive schemes are a problem for LA, but he’s not the worst part of this team. His postgame press conference displays his frustration with his team’s start to 2022.
We feel like it’s going to happen, said Vogel. We keep getting disappointed when we think it’s there, we think we’ve had that moment. Our biggest battle, our biggest problem this year is consistency. Once we take one step forward, we fall back and have a dissappointing performance. We got to find a way to catch ourselves from that [patten].
Frank Vogel
pain.exe
Will this ever end? That’s the question I keep asking myself about this team. Will this cycle of inconsistency, almost impressive at this point, ever stop? The good news for the Lakers is that the rest of the Western Conference is also struggling.
Other than the teams at the top, most teams are on the Lakers level. A 7-game win streak would do wonders for this team. As we heard Vogel and AD talk about, it’s a mindset thing. The Lakers have to believe they’re a championship team.
On defense, they have to fly around the court as if they were playing the Boston Celtics every night. On offense, they had to involve AD early and often. Playing faster will allow Lebron & Westbrook to get more opportunities at the rim. More scoring from Melo, Monk, and THT couldn’t hurt either.
The Lakers aren’t a great team. They aren’t as good as the Suns, Warriors, or Jazz. But they are certainly not as bad as their 13-13 record suggests. It’s time for them to take a deep breath, soak in some LA sun, and play basketball.
Watchin’ Jarrett Culver?
Back in 2019, for reasons still unknown to me, I loved Jarrett Culver. The Texas Tech guard had a breakout sophomore season, helping lead the Red Raiders to the National Championship game against Virginia. He swiftly entered the draft and I had high hopes for him as a two-way player in the NBA.
Minnesota took him with the 6th pick in the draft, but things never panned out. His one-year flurry of scoring in college didn’t stick. He was more of a defensive guard, which isn’t bad but doesn’t warrant the 6th pick in the draft. He spent most of 2021 injured, an afterthought from the likes of Towns, Edwards, and D-Lo.
He was traded to Memphis this offseason, as part of the Patrick Beverley deal, and I thought that was that. It would be the beginning of the end for Culver. But maybe my hope in Culver has been rekindled.
Last night against the Lakers, Culver had a pretty good game, displaying why he was selected so highly in 2019. Today, it’s time to hold out hope one last time that my friend from Texas Tech can fulfill my faith in him.
Offense
Culver went 4/6 from the field in 16 minutes, finishing with 8 points. He’s still not comfortable shooting from the perimeter, as his one 3-PT attempt in this game did not look natural. However, his ability to score around the rim was impressive.
Culver was forced into some tough, contested shots at the rim, which he converted more often than not. This one over Lebron was fun;
Culver might have some potential on offense yet.
Defense
Culver added three combined steals and blocks on the night, as his strong suit presented itself once more. When Russell Westbrook tries to drive down the lane, Culver says Gimme That!
Culver’s strong suit is on the defensive side of the ball. If he’s going to get minutes, it’s going to be because of his defense, a skill that the Grizzlies need right now. If Memphis wants to add some substance to their 22nd ranked defense, the solution might be right in front of them.
Am I back on the Jarrett Culver bandwagon? I guess so.
What Are Your Thoughts From Last Night’s Games? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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