Season in Review - The Middle Tier

Finishing 5th just sucks. You miss out on the 4th keeper and you only get 5 ping pong balls. So yes, Golden has the distinction of being that team this season. The Golden squad just couldn't keep up with the big boys this season. For starters, way too many injuries. Just look at these man game totals for the core of the Showers squad - SGA (55), Ingram (50), Hayward (45), Nurkic (56), Giddey (39). Add in a shockingly poor season from Richaun Holmes and all the other things and there is any wonder how Golden was even competing for the top 4. Golden worked the waiver wire pretty hard and ultimately used 41 players over the course of the season. Ultimately, the disastrous start to the season in 3PT% could never be recovered. Looking back at how guys like Lillard and SGA and others all shot to start the year was just shocking. Oh well, as they say. On to the next season. With just 3 keeper spots it's looking like Miles Bridges, Darius Garland and Josh Giddey could be the core. Why Giddey? Because I have anxiety over letting another young guard go. If you remember, my rookie pick 2 years ago was Tyrese Haliburton for $2. I could have protected him for $7. Instead I went with Holmes, Nurkic and SGA. So, yes, I have trust issues. I have to keep Giddey in case he goes off. Besides, who doesn't love having a nightly 3x2 threat that allows you to shotgun a beer or two during the season. 

Our defending champs from Brussels finished 6th this season. As usual, they ran out of FA dollars just after the New Year. That always limits the options to improve the squad. The defending champs didn't exactly 'run it back' either with the team sending out Luka and Cam Reddish to the Wack for Bam Adebayo and Derrick White. Unfortunately, Bam got injured and only played 48 games for Brussels. This team did set a JBL record for FG%. With Poeltl (62%), Gafford (71%), Clarke (65%), Okongwu (69%) leading the way it's easy to see how they finished about the 50% mark. Brussels is a staunch supporter of more keepers as this squad had so many undervalued guys that would be the ultimate role players on any team. This team was 1st in blocks and FG% but really struggled in scoring (13th). With 3 keepers for next season I would expect to see Poeltl, Sengun, and the ironman Mikal Bridges back. Did you know Mikal has not missed a single game in 4 NBA seasons? He also didn't miss any in college or high school either. True gamer. 

Phil and his Seoul squad were about to finish 8th. But the last second heroics of Klay Thompson bumped Seoul back to 7th. It feels like Seoul was in 7th for about 4 months.  He sold the farm awhile ago to make sure he had good keepers for next season so he's starting with Ja Morant, Scottie Barnes and Pascal Siakam. Or he could go the cheap route and keep Gary Trent Jr.. Regardless, this is a very good core for next season. Seoul was middle of the pack in just about every category this year. Who played the most man games for Seoul? Mo Bamba. 71 games. It's hard to really comment any further on such a middling squad. Seoul saw there was no route to the title - so he cashed in and grabbed Scottie and Ja and just waits for next season. He could get a decent rookie pick with his 7 ping pong balls and add another young stud too. Until then, Phil hits the golf links without a care in the world.

Idaho was floundering in the 9-12 range for quite some time this year. Then he decided to 'give up' and build for the future and traded All Star Rudy Gobert for the injured Zion. What happened? Idaho climbed to 8th. Behind a true stars and scrubs approach, Idaho almost pulled off the unthinkable. Trae Young, Devin Booker, James Harden, and De'Aaron Fox made up the core of this squad. Solid role players in Thubulle, Boucher, Morris, Quickley (not Quincy), Okeke and others led to a very solid 8th place finish. Look, if you're going to finish outside the top 4 then 8th is the place to be. 3 keepers and 8 lottery balls. Idaho will look to build around Zion, Trae and likely Jamal Murray. That could be a very strong core if Zion and Murray are truly healthy. Idaho is calling Zion to New York so we'll see if that happens. When it comes time to ranking the JBL teams for next season, based on keepers, Idaho is likely to be higher than 8th that's for sure. 

Alright....taking a break....back later with 9th and beyond....