What’s the best trade spurs can get for Kawhi? I guess he doesn’t want to be a spur anymore :(. I want to know what happened.

tanking is no fun

https://www.sbnation.com/2018/4/5/17189 ... conference

An article with this as a subhead is one which I will never read

The most impressive thing about the 76ers isn't necessarily that they hit 50 wins and a road to the 2nd round, but that the 2nd half of their season they were substantially better than the first. They were a ~.500 fringe playoff team for a long time and their young players really got better and slid into their roles really well as the year went on. Even if they don't have a successful playoffs (and as a young team that is a very strong possibility), this was already a very successful season for them.

My awards:

Most Improved Player - Victor Oladipo

This award that doesn't even merit a discussion. Spencer Dinwiddie and Julius Randle for 2 and 3.

6th Man of the Year - Lou Williams

Another easy one. Fred VlanVleet and Eric Gordon for 2 and 3.

Executive of the Year - Darryl Morrey

Then Danny Ainge. Then Kevin Pritchard, because either he saw something in Oladipo the rest of us didn't or I'm going to pretend he did.

Rookie of the Year - Ben Simmons

Like the MVP, I think this merits a discussion, but ultimately isn't close. I think Simmons is asked to do more--run an offense and guard 1-4 regularly--and I think he is better at what he's asked to do than Mitchell is at what he's asked to do. Both are playing with All Star DPOY-caliber centers. Mitchell a clear #2 and Tatum a clear #3.

Defensive Player of the Year - Rudy Gobert

The Jazz's meteoric rise began a game after he came back and they've had the best defense in the league over that span. He's played almost as much time as Joel Embiid, who is second. Anthony Davis is third. Predictably, Paul George has not been as impressive after Roberson went out (Roberson had a real case for DPOY before getting hurt).

Coach of the Year - Brad Stevens

If you take preseason wins projections and plug in actual minutes played for players, the top three for teams winning above projection are the Celtics (+18), the Raptors (+15), and the Pacers (+14). Fwiw, then come Houston (+12), Philly (+10), Portland (+4), Utah (+2), New Orleans (+2), San Antonio (+1), Detroit (+1), Lakers (+1). Ironically, one of those coaches might get fired (Detroit). I agree with those numbers and would go Stevens 1, Casey 2, and McMillan 3. I would have Brett Brown 4 and Quin Snyder 5 if there were 4th and 5th place votes. This is effected a bit by the stats not liking the Celtics as much as everyone else preseason and the stats liking the Jazz more, but I would still go with this. The numbers match my instincts.

MVP - James Harden

There is a conversation, but it's not close. If it were close, I'd still give it to Harden as a bit of a lifetime achievement/narrative award, but fortunately I think he's been a bit better than every other player in the league and is playing on the best team. LeBron is incredible and gets #2. #3 is Anthony Davis. #4 is Dame Lillard for me. #5 is Giannis. Durant gets an honorable mention, but doesn't crack the top 5 for me.

All Rookie Teams

First Team
1. Ben Simmons
2. Donovan Mitchell
3. Jayson Tatum
4. Lauri Markkanen
5. Lonzo Ball

Second Team
1. John Collins
2. Kyle Kuzma
3. Dennis Smith
4. Josh Jackson
5. Bogdan Bogdanovich

De'Aaron Fox is arguably a snub, but he's also arguably the most negatively-impactful player in the league. OG Anunoby is the bigger snub. I don't know who to drop, though.

All Defensive Team

First Team
C Rudy Gobert
F Anthony Davis*
F Robert Covington
G Andre Roberson
G Jrue Holiday

Second Team

C Joel Embiid
F Al Horford
F Paul George
G Victor Oladipo
G Dejounte Murray

George has fallen off a bit when Roberson went down. Roberson barely played. Don't care, both deserve it. If you drop Roberson, I'd move Oladipo to the first team and I'd honestly put Ben Simmons on the 2nd team. Biased? Yes. Justified? I think so. *Davis is about 50/50 forward and center this year and he's getting treated that way. I can't leave my third-place DPOY off the All Defensive Team entirely.

All NBA Team

First Team
C Anthony Davis
F LeBron James
F Giannis Antetokounmpo
G James Harden
G Dame Lillard

Second Team
C Joel Embiid
F Kevin Durant
F LaMarcus Aldridge
G Steph Curry
G Russell Westbrook

Third Team
C Nikola Jokic
F Jimmy Butler
F Al Horford
G DeMar DeRozan
G Victor Oladipo

Towns and Paul are really, really close. I might still put Towns over Jokic. Butler is eligible for two positions. Same with Davis.

simmons during sixers 15 game winning streak (7 of these without embiid): 14.7/10.1/10.6/2.0/0.7, 60.8 fg%, just 30.9mpg

i think he could/maybe should be 3rd team ahead of demar

I've heard someone make the case, but I think someone from the Raptors should get representation.

Totally random, but Markelle Fultz just became the youngest player in NBA history to have a triple double. He broke Lonzo Ball's record (who broke LeBron's record).

I'm tempted to put Embiid on the first team and bump Giannis to the second team. That would move Jokic to the second team center and put Towns on the third team center. I'll move Aldridge to third team (to make room for Giannis) and drop Horford entirely. That's pretty tough.

Edit: Fuck it.

C Embiid
F Davis
F LeBron
G Harden
G Dame

C Jokic
F Giannis
F Durant
G Curry
G Westbrook

C Towns
F Aldridge
F Butler
G DeRozan
G Oladipo

here's one for the Mavs fans, i'm sure you'd find it much more interesting

https://deadspin.com/tank-warfare-or-a- ... 1825190545

It's been a rough season

Damn, Ben Simmons.

yeah. monster. also AD almost made the top 15 on both lists.

also rudy gay

i hate this

tnt play by play guy giving credit to bryan colangelo for the sixers going from 10 wins to 50 and a playoff series win

i'm happy to see miami lose. especially happy to see philly take the heat's physical play and cheap shots etc. and still kick their ass