There Was A Lot To Unpack From NBA Media Day
With less than a month away from the start of the NBA Regular Season, NBA Media Day was our first look into the 2022 season.
NBA Media Day is always fun, but this year we had a lot more to talk about. We of course got to saw players in their new jerseys, which was just weird. We got to hear a lot of good insight, the Ben Simmons saga continues, and of course, everybody’s favorite, Covid!
In all seriousness, I saw and heard a lot of interesting things from Media Day, so today I’ll just be giving my thoughts on the matter.
Michael Porter Jr. Signs 5-Year Max Extension
A couple of days ago, the Denver Nuggets and rising star MPJ agreed to a 5-year extension worth $172 million. This extension could be worth $207 million, but only if MPJ makes an All-NBA team this season, which is, unfortunately for him, unlikely.
This didn’t deserve a whole post to talk about, because MPJ is worth the money. You saw what he could do last season, averaging 19 points per game on incredible efficiency. With Jamal Murray out to start 2022, he’s going to be Denver’s 2nd option behind Jokic and he is going to be one of the best scorers in the NBA for a long time.
But like all long-term extensions in the NBA, I saw that some people didn’t like this extension, for some reason. My retort to people who didn’t like the extension is simple. This is just how the NBA works now.
You hardly ever see a contract that perfectly describes a player’s value to their respective team. Especially with young guys, you see teams just pay them based on potential. Has MPJ deserved a max extension with how much value he’s contributed in the NBA so far? Not even close.
But will he be worth it for the next 5 years? I’m leaning towards yes as of right now. He’s in the perfect situation, he has a great coach in Michael (not Mike) Malone, and he has great teammates like Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray. He is going to contribute at an elite level for a long-time.
The next step for MPJ is to improve off the dribble and become a better isolation scorer. Sure, his efficiency might drop a little bit, but he’ll become lethal if he becomes unguardable one-on-one.
Zion Williamson Broke His Foot? + Caris Levert’s Back Injury
With media day, we also learned a couple of things about some injuries. First, we’ll start with everybody’s favorite dumpster fire, the New Orleans Pelicans.
David Griffin came up to the podium and he revealed something that most people didn’t know about Zion Williamson;
“His timeline should get him back on the court in time for the regular season. That would be our hope and our view, and we’re very optimistic about what that looks like. Unfortunately, I know that’s going to be taken as a very big negative for all of you. It’s really not for us, because we were dealing with it all offseason, and we feel very confident about where things are.”
Williamson injured his foot, likely training, during the start of the summer. Luckily for the Pelicans, he will likely not miss any regular-season time. Nobody cares about the preseason games he is going to miss, so as long as he can come back in time for the season, we’re good.
However, Zion Williamson hasn’t had the best relationship with the Pelicans medical staff. If they hold him back from returning from injury again? An already poor relationship might take another turn for the worst.
(Zion also mentioned that David Griffin didn’t play the piano for him in the bubble, which was something that was reported about a week ago. The fact that this was a question asked by a real journalist is very funny and it’s even funnier that Zion had to answer that question, to which he gave this great answer);
(Sound Up)
Look, that story about the piano might not be true, but one of the best players in the NBA had to answer this question. I love the NBA.
Caris Levert’s Back Injury
Another thing that came from media day was that the Indiana Pacers announced that Caris Levert had a stress fracture in his back. That sounds really painful and bad, the Pacers are hopeful that he can return in time for the regular season.
Levert is a very talented scorer who, when healthy, should be a great complimentary piece next to Sabonis and Brogdon. I hope injuries don’t slow him down like they have the past couple of seasons. He had cancer last season and I am hoping that he can stay healthy this season and contribute.
As a Blazers fan, I know what back injuries are like, somewhat. CJ McCollum was dealing with a lower back fracture in the bubble and while he still played, his mobility was down and he wasn’t the same player. I know this isn’t the same injury, but I am hoping that this is nothing serious and we get to see Caris Levert play to start 2022.
Covid-19 & Vaccines
{Controversy Incoming}
I know nobody wants to talk about Covid, the vaccine, masks, or anything relating to those things. I know that whenever somebody says vaccine, they’re getting ready to type “stop getting political” in the comments. I get it, but it’s news. This is not going to be a section where I say that everybody has to get the vaccine. They don’t have to if they don’t want to.
But if you take the politics away from it, it’s a pretty stupid way to not play basketball. You can’t play in New York or San Francisco without a vaccine. So any Warriors, Knicks, or Nets players without a vaccine cannot play in their own stadium, which is something that has never happened before.
We have had a lot of players display various amounts of transparency when it comes to the vaccine and their status with it. Some people proudly say they have it and some proudly say that they don’t have it. Some don’t want to share it publically, even if they do have it. All of those are fair answers and I don’t get the point of overanalyzing people like Kyrie Irving and Josh Richardson just for saying they want to keep things private.
I’m not here to shame anybody who doesn’t have the vaccine, just stating some facts about the matter.
It has been reported that Kyrie Irving will get the vaccine, which is great for the Nets, the NBA as a whole, and Stripchat (ifkyk). Irving would have missed half of the season if he didn’t have the vaccine and the Nets wouldn’t have been contenders without him. Apparently, after talking things over with Kevin Durant, Irving has decided to get the vaccine.
Unfortunately for the rest of the NBA, Irving will be able to play everywhere he so pleases and help wreak havoc on everybody else.
Some teams who have said that they are are 100% vaccinated or are close to that mark were the Pistons, Jazz, Spurs, Knicks, Rockets, Blazers, and a lot of teams such as Indiana and the Lakers said that they would be at 100% by the start of the regular season on October 19th. Again, great for them, they’re making the right choice in the long run so they can just worry about basketball.
I think something that is getting overlooked is that 95% of the league is vaccinated. 90% of them are fully vaccinated and now we’re seeing guys in the process of getting vaccinated, which is fantastic. We get to see guys compete without the hassle of masks and Covid as a whole should be much less of a problem this season, which is again a great thing for all parties.
The NBA has said that they won’t pay players for missed games due to Covid restrictions. Currently, Andrew Wiggins isn’t vaccinated, so he’s set to only play about 35-ish games this season for the Warriors, which would be a big blow to them because Wiggins is so important to them. With Klay Thompson’s return to elite form not 100% guaranteed, the Warriors need Wiggins now more than ever.
Jonathan Isaac is another unvaccinated player, although, if we’re being honest, not having Jonathan Isaac for some games here and there isn’t the end of the world. They’re still going to be really, really bad.
Bradley Beal is another player who isn’t getting vaccinated. A little weird considering Beal couldn’t even play in the Olympics due to Covid and that he has a kid, which is a big reason some players like Ja Morant and Damian Lillard got the vaccine. But hey, you do you, man.
The NBA will likely forfeit games due to Covid, as suspending games really won’t work. We saw what happened last year, with some teams scrambling to make up games in limited time frames, causing more injuries. The NBA doesn’t want to do that again and risk the health of their players, so they’re likely going to be doing things similar to the NFL in 2022.
To me, it’s pretty simple. If you want to play basketball at a high level and help your team win, just get the vaccine. You’re not making a political statement, heck, you don’t even have to like it, but getting the vaccine makes it so much easier to do your job and do so at a high level.
I don’t think it’s smart to not only cost your team wins but also cost yourself millions of dollars just because you’re “still looking into the vaccine,” which I’m betting is the nice way of saying, “I’m not getting it.”
But hey, if you want to “stand your ground,” be my guest.
{Controversy Ended}
The Ben Simmons Saga
This wouldn’t be an offseason article without talking about Mr. Simmons and the 76ers. Simmons has been in trade talks for months, but it appears he won’t be traded before the season has started. Simmons is prepared to miss every single game until a trade has been made, which was to be expected.
But since the situation is still ongoing, you knew that a lot of the questions would be about Simmons. Here were some responses from members of the 76ers;
Doc Rivers on Ben Simmons
āI still think the world of him,ā said Rivers. āI think the world of him as a player. Just because he doesnāt do certain things that you want him to do, doesnāt mean heās a bad player. He made the All-Star team. He almost won the Defensive Player of the Year award. So to me, sometimes I wish, instead of just going with what you want, listen to my intent. Thatās all Iām saying and I said that the next day. Thatās why, if you remember, the next day we did the press conference, whoever was at that press conference. Did I say it again I reiterated it, I said guys, thereās something out there that I didnāt mean, so itās not like me being a revisionist history.ā
That’s nice and all, but Rivers didn’t exactly defend Simmons immediately after that Game 7 loss. I know that that isn’t a full measure of defending somebody, right after an emotional ending to your season, but this does seem like a complete 180Ā° from his comments after that series ended.
Again, what Rivers is saying is true. But he didn’t exactly defend Simmons after Game 7 and neither did Embiid. It’s a nice sentiment, but you can’t change the past.
Daryl Morey on Ben Simmons
āI think thereās a lot of hope,ā said Morey. āI would say, I watched last night (Sunday) a player lead their team to victory where 1000 pounds of digital ink were spilled on how much he would never play for that team again. Look, every situation is different, but we have a lot of optimism that we can make it work here.ā
The Aaron Rodgers comparison is nice, but at least Aaron Rodgers is one of the best players in the NFL with basically no flaws. Ben Simmons has glaring flaws that he doesn’t want to fix. While the 76ers needed to use him better, a lot of the problems that the 76ers have right now are because of Simmons’ inability to adapt.
The 76ers aren’t likely to trade Simmons because they want too much from him, but he’s not going to play for you. Can’t say I agree with the Aaron Rodgers-Ben Simmons analogy.
Now, you’re probably wondering, what about Joel Embiid? Embiid and Simmons have been intertwined during their careers and Embiid has defended Simmons. During media day, he said this;
āOf course we want him back. Heās a big piece of what weāve been building the past few years. Obviously, thereās a lot of stuff that has happened in between and I know a little bit about all of that, but thatās not really for me to deal. The way I look at it is that we all got to be better. I turned the ball over a few times, I missed a few shots, Tobias (Harris) could have been better. All my teammates could have been better. If thatās what it takes to win and I still believe that we got a chance to win with him. I know heās going through a lot and I guess, we just gonna let him be himself.ā
Wow. Joel Embiid is such a nice guy, right?
Well, just a couple of days later, Embiid said this;
“Our teams have always been built around his needs. So it’s just kind of surprising to see. Even going back to, the reason we signed Al, we got rid of Jimmy, which I still think was a mistake, just to make sure he needed the ball in his hands. We’ve always had shooters, and I feel like I can really play with anybody, and I can make anybody be better on the court…We are a better team with him. There’s no question about it. We still hope that he changes his mind. The situation is weird, disappointing, borderline kinda disrespectful….”
YIKES. Remember, Embiid was defending Simmons just a few days ago and now he’s saying this. Perhaps he was just frustrated by all the questions he was getting about it and just kind of lashed out, but it does seem like that relationship is completely done for.
Embiid is somewhat right in what he’s saying. The Al Horford signing was meant to bring spacing for Simmons. Did the 76ers get rid of Jimmy Butler for Ben Simmons? I always thought that Butler just hated Brett Brown and left, but if that’s true, then Simmons can be cast out into the Atlantic.
That might have been in the nail in the coffin. Rivers, Morey, and the rest of the roster are frantically trying to support Simmons and play damage control. But if the franchise cornerstone, the best player on your team, is saying things like this? Expect Simmons to be gone and fast.
Pain (Blazers)
It’s time for more false hope to start a season! My Blazers aren’t exactly title contenders, but hey, Chauncey Billups is the coach? Everything is fine, no need to panic or anything like that. It’s not like Dame wants to leave…
I am not going to listen to any of these quotes, I’m just going to give my thoughts. Dame, CJ, whoever, always says these types of things to start the season, but then we know how everything ends. So advice to all my Blazers fans, don’t get your hopes up.
Damian Lillard on new HC Chauncey Billups
“When I was first coming into the league, Neil would always tell me I reminded him of Chauncey. It’s definitely a fit. I can see where his experience as a player at a championship level can really help our team.”
Chauncey Billups the player is somebody that most point guards should want to be compared to. He’s a Finals MVP and one of the best players from the 2000s.
But as a coach? He only has one year of experience and the situation he’s walking into isn’t exactly ideal. I get that as a player with championship experience, Billups might be decent, but there is so much more that goes into being a head coach in the NBA.
If you couldn’t already tell, I’m not that optimistic about Chauncey Billups, the coach.
“Neil and Chauncey were very forward with how they felt about me. Dame and CJ both reached out to me before free agency started. Dame texted me and told me he wanted me back.”
They’d better have. We gave up Gary Trent Jr. for Powell, so if he didn’t come back, things would have been disastrous. But it is comforting knowing that Powell likes being here and that so do the Blazers. The Blazers also apparently helped Powell find a house and filled his fridge with his favorite drinks when he first got to Portland.
Whatever works to keeping Powell in town is a-okay by me.
What Are Your Thoughts From All That Transpired During Media Day? Leave A Comment Down Below!
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