Wassup y’all! Ya boy (it me, ya boy) is back with another hoop recap. Let’s catch up on some things that’s gone down across the basketball realm.
Well, February certainly has started with its share of dreams and intrigue. In both the Men’s and Women’s National Basketball Associations, moves have been made and transactions have been processed. Major names have changed addresses and both leagues will have a new look to them going forward.
First, in the W, it seems like Unrivaled has become a recruiting ground for players in free agency and looking for a trade. From Brittney Griner signing with Atlanta to Jewell Loyd and Kelsey Plum involved in a trade to the Connecticut Sun dismantling their core to start anew, the WNBA seems to be taking advantage of this increase in attention and fandom. More people truly care what’s going on this off-season, and the W has more than delivered through Unrivaled and its free agency period.
Over in the NBA, of course the big transaction is the Los Angeles Lakers acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks for Anthony Davis. The key component in the deal—apologies to the other players and pieces involved—is that no one but the two GMs, Rob Pelinka and Nico Harrison, knew the deal was about to happen. This naturally leads to questions surrounding the why behind the secrecy as well as the why behind the reason Dallas traded a 25-year-old superstar that led them to the Finals a season ago. No matter the reason, the deal is done, and now both teams must solve new problems with their adjusted team makeup.
This is true of the other deals, like Jimmy Butler being traded to Golden State and De’Aaron Fox being traded to San Antonio. Those teams have a different construct, and the players and coaches will have to figure it out with roughly 30 games left in the season. I also don’t know what this means going forward as far as trade requests and demands go. For the past few years, “player empowerment” has been the movement, especially in the NBA. That means players have had much more say in where they would like to play going forward, and more willing to express displeasure and unhappiness with their current circumstances. Granted, the number of players with this kind of power is very minuscule compared to the overall population of players in the league. But there are enough of them that are willing to be vocal about where they would like their team’s direction to go. I don’t know if this is the start of front offices trying to wrestle a little more control back or not. But one thing is true, regardless of workplace, disgruntled employees must ultimately either be removed or satiated. Otherwise, the entire company can tank off bag vibes alone.
All-Star weekend may be a little awkward…
February Till Takes!
Unrivaled will have their 1-on-1 tournament starting February 7th. Thirty of the 36 players will participate. I encourage people to tune in because we will see just how skilled these women are. One-on-one allows players to really get into their isolation game and treat every possession like a potential game-winner. That should be done good hoop over the next couple weeks.
The Lakers trading for Mark Williams was the quality move that may not seem like it on the surface. Williams is young and willing to protect the paint. He’s not Anthony Davis but he certainly fills a need.
I do not think Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green will butt heads just because they’re both fiery personalities. If anything, they’ll team up and fuss at Buddy Hield.
That’s it for this hoop recap. I’ll catch up with y’all next time.
