Basketball Insiders Week in Review 11/30

The Ascension of Marc Gasol

By Moke Hamilton

Way back in 2001—before his move to Germantown, Tennessee and long before his older brother became an NBA Champion—Marc Gasol was merely a figment of his own imagination.

Long before he became the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2013 and long before he became renowned as one of the top centers in the NBA, he was simply known as “Pau’s little brother,” before being affectionately referred to as “The Big Burrito.”

But today, you call him something else—the best center in the NBA.

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Fantasy Focus: Chris Bosh

When the Miami HEAT’s “Big Three” of the past four years (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh) suddenly became the “Remaining Two” after James bolted for the Cleveland Cavaliers in the offseason, fantasy basketball owners collectively posed one question: Will Bosh return to his Toronto Raptors-era numbers?

Bosh was the unquestionable go-to player and face of the franchise during his seven-year stint in Toronto. Looking at his final four-year statistics with the Raptors, he averaged 22.9 points, 10 rebounds and 2.5 assists. Compare those numbers to Bosh’s past four seasons in Miami and a different picture is painted. He averaged 17.4 points, 7.4 rebounds and 1.6 assists as part of the HEAT’s three-pronged approach.

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Was It Really Kidd’s Fault In Brooklyn?

By Steve Kyler

While it is still very early in the season, there is something that sort of jumps out at you in the NBA standings. The Milwaukee Bucks are doing pretty well for themselves and the Brooklyn Nets are still under achievers.

Much was made about Bucks head coach Jason Kidd, especially as things came unglued at the end in Brooklyn. From listening to the Bucks players and staff and watching how things are imploding in Brooklyn, you have to wonder: Did Kidd bear the brunt of the problem unfairly?

Many versions of the Kidd story have been told, but the one that seems most likely is that Kidd, like most around the NBA, had heard that the Nets were thinking about firing him after a dreadful start last season. Can you really blame the guy for going into self-preservation mode when his front office allegedly turned on him?

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Zoran Dragic in Phoenix Was No Favor to Goran

While brothers playing in the NBA isn’t neccesarily a rare thing, having two brothers actually play for the same team for an extended period of time in the regular season is pretty rare.

Of course, you wouldn’t know that looking at the Phoenix Suns’ roster, since they’ve got not one but two sets of brothers on the team, but just ask Marcus and Markieff Morris and Goran and Zoran Dragic how valuable it is to have that sort of familiarity in the locker room.

“It’s always nice to have some family in town and on the same team,” Goran said. “For the past six, seven years we only see each other for the summer when we played together for the national team.”

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Can Steve Nash Still Help the Lakers?

By Yannis Koutroupis

The losses are continuing to pile up for the Los Angeles Lakers at a historic rate. They run one of the most one-dimensional, predictable offenses in the league that is overly reliant on Kobe Bryant, whose shot selection has never been more ill-advised and unfiltered. Defensively, they often play uninspired, having great difficulty containing anyone out on the perimeter.

Despite the change at head coach over the summer from Mike D’Antoni to Byron Scott, these kind of issues have become all too familiar for the Lakers over the last three years. Only, before, they had hope to point to, whether it was the return of Bryant and Steve Nash or the opportunity to make a run at Carmelo Anthony and LeBron James in free agency.

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NBA Trade Watch: Eastern Conference

As the Feb. 19th NBA trade deadline approaches, talks around the league will heat up, particularly on Dec. 15 when players that were signed over the summer become eligible to be traded. The trade outlook in the Eastern Conference is certainly becoming a very interesting one as the season progresses and we begin to see how certain teams perform. Once players can be traded on Dec. 15, teams will have a better idea if they are going to be buying or selling at the deadline. Teams may be active in trade negotiations because they feel like one or two more pieces might put them in contention or they might be active because they are out of the race and want to begin selling off assets as they move their franchise in a different direction.

Here are some East teams to keep an eye on in trade talks in the months to come:

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Telfair Reflects on Lessons Learned 10 Years After “Through the Fire”

It has been almost 10 years since the world got a firsthand glimpse into the life of a young basketball talent on the path to stardom. From New York to the NBA, Sebastian Telfair was one of the next big things to watch in sports.

His decision to go straight from high school to the pros was captured in the documentary “Through the Fire.” The movie, released in 2005, chronicled a period in his life when the doors were wide open for him to take the pros by storm. The highly touted high schooler was well on his way to acheiving his basketball dreams when filming wrapped. Years later, Telfair realizes how much of the unknown actually laid ahead of him.

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Griffin Still Adjusting to Expanded Game

By Alex Kennedy

Blake Griffin has always been an elite athlete. He hit the genetic lottery, so even when he’s matched up against fellow NBA players who are freaks of nature in their own right, he’s typically the most athletic player on the court. There are plenty of YouTube videos that show he can impose his will athletically and there are many poster victims who could back up that evidence.

However, in recent years, Griffin has also become an elite player. In Griffin’s case, that leap occured when being the most athletic player was no longer enough to satisfy him. He wanted to be one of the NBA’s best players, not just one of the league’s best athletes. This meant training extremely hard, changing his game, expanding the range on his jump shot, improving his ball-handling, working on his passing and growing as a leader. Some elite athletes never become elite players, but Griffin has made that transition. He never liked being described as a dunker, and he was determined to prove he’s much more than that.

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The Pelicans’ Quest to Build a Contender

By Nate Duncan

With the ascension of Anthony Davis, the New Orleans Pelicans are suddenly at the forefront of the NBA discussion. By box score statistics, Davis has been playing about as well as any player possibly can over the 12 games to start the season. He has a 35.9 PER, 62 true shooting percentage, and is blocking 7.4 percent of opponents’ two-pointers. The Pels outscore opponents by 8.6 points per 100 possessions with Davis on the floor, and get murdered to the tune of -14.0 points/100 when he sits, per NBA.com. All of those numbers are almost certain to regress, if only because no player in NBA history has ever eclipsed a 32 PER over a full season, and the 10 seasons over 31 all belong to LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Regardless, the Pelicans may already have the best player in the NBA on their hands, one who might be the favorite for MVP without accounting for team performance.

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NBA Rookie Of The Year Watch: Napier Joins Race

Andrew Wiggins almost jumped Jabari Parker for the top spot this week after a 29-point scoring outburst against the Sacramento Kings on Saturday.  However, Parker has put in some solid performances recently as well, and his overall contributions to the 8-7 Milwaukee Bucks keeps him in the top spot for the fourth week in a row.

Nikola Mirotic and Shabazz Napier both jump into the top-10 this week as both have received an increase in playing time because of injuries to teammates.  Napier makes his first appearance in the top-10 after recently showing off an efficient offensive game and surprising accuracy from beyond-the-arc.

The rookies continue to be inconsistent collectively, but it is nice to see that some, such as Kostas Papanikolaou, are contributing to playoff teams.

Now, let’s take a look at how the rookies stack up against one another four weeks into the season.

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Undrafted Guards From Overseas Who Could Help NBA Team

Every year, a number of NBA teams turn to the same veteran retreads when it comes time to add a free agent. However, there are plenty of NBA-caliber players overseas who could help an NBA franchise if given the opportunity.

Skilled guards like left-handed Keith Langford, the reigning No. 1 Euroleague scorer, could’ve pursued NBA offers, including from the Philadelphia 76ers, but opted tosign a lucrative $3.8 million pact with Russian club Kazan instead.

Veteran star point guard Bo McCalebb, undrafted out of New Orleans in 2008, has won multiple MVP awards and championships in Serbia, Italy and Turkey. However, though he’s been in recent contact with multiple NBA teams, McCalebb signed a one-month deal with German powerhouse Bayern Munich, and it appears his NBA window is closing.

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Lance Stephenson Struggles in Charlotte

By Lang Greene

After years spent toiling in the league’s basement, the Charlotte Hornets were supposed to take another step forward in the NBA’s hierarchy this season. After all, the team reached the playoffs last season after recording 43 wins and securing a rare appearance in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The team also rebranded itself during the offseason which further increased the excitement around the franchise in the Queen City. The free agent signing of guard Lance Stephenson cemented most observers’ belief that nothing but positive things were ahead for the Hornets.

However, 16 games into the season, the Hornets have struggled to a 4-12 start and if the playoffs began today the franchise would be sitting outside of the playoff chase.

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Can the Thunder Still Make the Playoffs?

By Jesse Blancarte

After missing 14 games because of a fractured right hand, Russell Westbrook returned to the Oklahoma City Thunder lineup last night, sparking his team to a convincing 105-78 win over the struggling New York Knicks.  Westbrook was sensational, scoring 14 points in the first quarter, making 12-of-17 shots overall (including 3-4 from three-point range), while adding eight assists and seven rebounds in just 23 minutes of action.

Westbrook’s return is a significant boost for a struggling Thunder team that has been without its two superstars for the first time since this team was constructed.  Despite the best efforts of up-and-coming guard Reggie Jackson, Serge Ibaka and the rest of the team, the Thunder simply could not compete at a high level without Westbrook and Kevin Durant.

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NBA Trade Watch: Western Conference

As mentioned in our Eastern Conference Trade Watch feature, we should expect the bulk of discussions to surface after Dec. 15 once players that signed contracts this past summer are eligible to be included in deals. Although we are still weeks away from that date and months away from February’s trade deadline, that hasn’t stopped speculation and some early discussions that several teams have already reportedly had.

It may seem as though the 2014-15 season started just moments ago, but we are actually nearly 20 percent through the schedule in many cases, leaving teams with plenty of time to have assessed whether moves are necessary.

Here are some of the Western Conference teams to keep in mind as trade talks increase over the coming months:

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