Three Unpopular Takes

In a world of First Take and talk radio/podcasts hot takes aren't all that rare. So we won't waste your time introducing this post. We'll get straight into our three most unpopular opinions on the current NBA.

Jake #1: Russell Westbrook is the best point guard in the league.

Yes I'm being serious, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle is absolutely the best Point Guard in the league. For this take I'm not going to compare him to an entire class of point guards, instead I'll presume that both you and me have a common knowledge that he already outranks Chris Paul, Damian Lillard, Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving, Kyle Lowry and Kemba Walker. That effectively leaves Stephen Curry as his main competitor for point guard dominance, backed up by both Bleacher Report and NBC Sports ranking Stephen Curry at the #1 spot with The Brodie trailing at #2. So this is a Steph vs Russ argument. Now despite the recent trend towards shoot-first point guards and the leagues overall movement towards positionless basketball - a point guards traditional responsibility is to create shots and opportunities for others. If we look at a Hall of Fame point guard like John Stockton, his value was primarily in his ability to set up teammates - much like other HoF point guards Magic Johnson, Steve Nash, Oscar Robertson, Chris Paul, Isiah Thomas... the list is endless. But where is Steph Curry on the all-time assists per game list? 37th. Behind Ricky Rubio and a fraction ahead of Nick Van Exel... Russ however? 11th. Just behind Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and Rajon Rondo. I'm not naive enough to think Steph Curry doesn't bring an incredible skillset to the game of basketball and won't end up in the Hall of Fame eventually. But, right now I'd consider Westbrook (averaged 10.5 assists for the past 3 seasons), who's proven to be on another level with his playmaking, plays harder on defense and plays a lot more pick and roll/pop sets - a better POINT GUARD. Not a better player, but if I need a guy to set up an easy bucket for my big men or wings? I'm picking The Brodie.

Jake #2: Philadelphia will win the playoffs this season.

Hear me out here. The Philadelphia 76ers have the 4th best home winning record in the league, above Golden State, Boston or Oklahoma. They've got the 4th highest points per game while holding opponents under 112 a night - good for about middle of the pack. While that doesn't sound very impressive here's what does. They have the best point guard in the East (Ben Simmons - yes he's more of a point guard than Kyrie and you'd pick him all day over Lowry), the best shooting guard in the East (Jimmy Butler - I'd rank him over Khris Middleton because he can play lots of minutes at the forward spot too), one of the top 5 wings in the East in Tobias Harris (a potential All-Star snub too), one of the most accurate shooters in the league in J.J. Redick (41% Career 3PT percentage) and Joel Embiid - the best Center in the league and basically a ressurection of Hakeem Olajuwon himself. So that's a top tier talent at every position in their starting five - personally I think that's enough to get them past the Raptors (lacking a secondary scorer behind Kawhi) and Milwaukee (similarly lacking a dominant threat behind Giannis) - Boston could cause them some problems if Kyrie can lead them past their dysfunction this season, but Hayward looks like a shell of himself and there are some serious chemistry issues this season.

 I know that the 76ers are very thin after that starting five, but playoff minutes are traditionally much higher for the core of a team than the regular season is, so provided all their key pieces can stay healthy, I could see them making it to the Finals. When they get there I'm going to have to rely on a bit of luck... As much as the Eastern Conference is a bloodbath this season, the West is still hardly a walk in the park, even LeBron James can't lead a half-decent team to the 8th seed. I think it's highly likely that we see the Warriors starting five get bounced around a lot in their run to the Finals - they'll get there, don't worry about that. But they have to go through teams that physically dominate opponents every night - likely the Jazz in the opening round and then the Thunder somewhere along the way - it's going to be tough. I'm hoping that by the time they reach the Finals that it becomes a level playing field - Ben Simmons is going to bounce Steph around through an entire series, Joel Embiid is to win the mind games against Boogie (probably leading Cousins to set playoff-records in technical fouls), and the combination of matching up with Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler tag team style is going to wear down Kevin Durant over the course of a series and keep Klay in check. Beyond that it really comes down to a battle of the benches, and let's face it - both are terrible. I'm calling Philadelphia in 6 games, leading to Kevin Durant packing his bags for New York.

Jake #3: LeBron James is bad for the NBA.

Yes, you read that right. LeBron James is bad for the league. This might be considered blasphemy in some ways because he did help deliver 2 titles to my beloved Miami Heat, and he forged a legendary friendship with my favourite player - Flash himself. But man, at this point I'm getting really tired of the wrecking ball he brings to franchises. Everyone knows that when you have LeBron you're in "win now" mode, but when he comes to a franchise like the Lakers - EVERYBODY knew he wasn't going to be patient, no matter how long his contract was signed for. Contracts seem to be meaningless with the star power in the NBA nowadays anyway - just look at AD, he technically has NO power yet but declares he wants to be traded, well no... actually you'll be traded whenever your franchise feels is the best time because they're the ones paying you millions to play a sport...

Anyway, my Anthony Davis rant aside - LeBron has dictated the future, for better or worse, of every franchise he's been a part of. He's ruined the Cavaliers two times - leaving them to pick up the pieces. He bounced on Miami despite going to 4 consecutive Finals with them. Now he's ruining the confidence of younger teammates who know they're just a trade chip for him to fiddle with. You can't blame your teammates for not being comfortable with adversity when you're the one playing no defense and publicly stating it'd be great to play with AD - effectively assuring them that they mean nothing to you as teammates except for the value they'll return in a trade. Well shit, I wouldn't want to play hard under you as a leader either... Shout out to Brandon Ingram though for putting together his best stretch of the season at such a demoralising time! 

The point I guess I'm trying to make here is that everywhere LeBron goes he leaves a trail in his wake - somebody else always gets the blame instead of him. Can't hit clutch free throws? Well Chris Bosh must be the issue. Struggling to put together consecutive good games? You should try and get Erik Spoelstra fired. Playing terrible defense? Yeah, Kevin Love must be a bad third scoring option and proven coach David Blatt (also a player development specialist, a role he thought he was stepping into before LeBron decided to "come home") must be to blame. Now we have a similar story - can't pull a half decent team into the playoffs the way you always could in the weaker East? Throw all your other teammates under the bus and have a public bromance with the player they'll be getting swapped for. 

Everywhere he's gone, coaches, players, whole franchises and fan bases have been negatively affected by the fallout of his publicity shows and pointing finger - I love LeBron's narrative, his incredible charity work and legacy he's chasing and it's going to be amazing to look back at and say I witnessed it - but I think it has more negative than positive effects on the league itself. 

Bonus Take

Chad #1: Lance Stephenson is the 2019 MVP

I said I was gonna do it. So let's do it!

I know what you're thinking, "Lance Stephenson for MVP? Chad must've lost his mind." That's reasonable and I understand your shock but bear with me here before you write this take off altogether.

Make-'em-Dance-Lance isn't the run away favorite for MVP by any means. In fact, I think I'm the only person in existence today that has him as the MVP, including Lance himself. Eh, I take that back. Lance may be a believer. And I hear people saying, Lance only averages about 7 points, 2 assists, and 3 rebounds per game this year. But it's not all about the stats when it comes to the MVP race despite what Russell Westbrook's MVP victory might say. Lance is the MVP for much more abstract and hazy reasons.

You know how we talk about when a given player is out versus in the lineup and compare how the team does? Well, Lance is only averaging 15 minutes per game. His lowest since his sophomore campaign. And he hasn't started a single game despite being a better play, in my opinion, than Kentavious Caldwell Pope. (Yes, I just compared the 2019 MVP to KCP.) So if value is based on what one brings to the table and how it effects the team when those assets aren't there, then one could surmise that if Lance played even 25 minutes per game the Lakers would have a much better record and might be sitting in the fifth or sixth spot in the West. That's real value. LeBron, a current MVP candidate and self-proclaimed G.O.A.T. on the same team can't even get the squad to that level. But just you watch. If Luke Walton wises up and gives Lance the opportunity, the Lakers will see their fortunes appear out of thin air. LeBron will get the credit but we'll all know in our hearts it was Lance who made it happen.

I'll give you one more reason Lance is the MVP in case you're unconvinced. We're talking Most VALUABLE Player here and Lance not only brings the show to Staples Center with his crazy, awkward fast-break handles and passes but he brings it with his antics like blowing in current teammate LeBron's ear hole. You're telling me you wouldn't pay a couple hundred bucks to watch Lance sitting beside Bronchiole on the bench just steadily and ever so softly blowing in Bron's ear? Ok, yeah that's a bit weird. But someone would pay to see that. #Value And you can't tell me that if Lance blew in your ear hole it wouldn't get into your head a bit. That's also value my friends. And do you see anyone else blowing in people's ear holes? I didn't think so. He's one of a kind. BOOM! Value.

You know what, I'll even give you one more reason. Granted the MVP is a regular season award, but come playoff time, assuming Luke Walton actually plays Stephenson enough for the Lakers to make the playoffs, we will see such a rise in Lance's play that we'll want to rip the MVP trophy right out of Giannis Antetokounmpo's hands and air mail it to Hollywood so Lance can drink wine out of it's chalice.

Oh...wait...it's not a cup. Well, you get the picture.