2014 NBA Season Review

The Spurs just capped off their 5th title win.  Not only did the beat the Heat, they did so in an impressive 4-1 fashion.  (3 of those wins were in spectacular fashion.)


It was truly "the team vs. the player" series, and in this case the team won.  No sane person will deny LeBron's skills, even if you hate him.  He gave it his best, just his teammates fell up short.  Wade is... well if LeBron wasn't his teammate it's scary to think just how bad he would look.  Wade looks old now, and he's not even the focal point of the team!  Bosh was far and away the Heat's second best player, yet probably will never be recognized as such.

After the Heat's disappointing 2011 loss to the Mavs they added Shane Battier to the mix, which paid off in the Finals.  Even after the 2012 win, they added Ray Allen the next off-season, who saved their ass in 2013 Finals.  What did they do in the 2013 off-season to spice up the bench?  Nothing.  Adding Michael Beasley and Greg Oden was essentially throwing money into the river.  Depending on what Anthony Bennett ends up accomplishing, those two are the two biggest busts of the new millennium.  (Yes that's even counting Kwame.) Ray and Shane were nice veteran additions for the time, but they are "veterans" for a reason: THEY ARE OLD!  With the amnesty of Mike Miller, the Heat's bench was that much weaker.  Even if Ray comes back for another year, does he have anything left?  He was OK in the Finals, but obviously just "OK" does win championships.  A key ingredient for a successful team is at least one bench guy that can contribute at a high level.   The Spurs are the best example of this because they have numerous guys that come off the bench and make their mark on the game, and they did.

courtesy: sbnation.com

Miami has money to spend this offseason, and speculation is running wild as to what they will do with it.  The hot topic is to bring in Carmelo Anthony.  The reason being that he will thrive playing off of LeBron just like he does on the Olympic team.  (Translation: he's not a superstar, but I won't get into that rant.) That's sound enough, but there are a couple of holes in that argument.  Firstly, if you're paying big money to LeBron, Wade, Bosh, and Anthony, you're bench is really going to suck because you will have absolutely no money to distribute the remaining 8 guys.  The bench they ended up assembling in 2011 was quite remarkable considering the little money they had to work with.  Could lightning strike twice?  I suppose for ring-chasing veterans, but remember they would have even less money to give them now if a "big 4" is in place.  Secondly and most importantly, Miami couldn't stop the Spurs.  They were too good offensively.  Is Melo going to solve this issue?  Last time I checked he isn't exactly getting confused with Paul George or any other defensive oriented player.  If their plan is to out shoot their opponents good luck.  With the exception of the 2011 Mavs, how many jump shooting championship teams can you recall?  (The Mavs also had Tyson Chandler at his defensive apex as well.)

All of that speculation is for naught if LeBron checks out.  I can't see a core of Melo, Bosh, and old man Wade doing much damage.  Granted, they are in the Eastern Conference, but if Conferences get eliminated that throws a pretty big monkey wrench into that theory.  With that said, I really can't see LeBron leaving. Where would he go?  Sure the Heat squad has deficiencies, but what other good team has money to throw at him?  Please don't mention Cleveland, that team is a joke.  And also, I said "good" teams.  Not teams that the players hate each other, and their owner is a crazy person.

The Spurs are in a much happier place.  They redeemed themselves from last year's Finals loss, and proved the old guy can still take one from the young guns.  Tim Duncan has been known as the greatest power forward for a while now.  With his five rings now, don't you think you can make the argument that he is one of the best players ever now?  Averaging 15 and 10 in the Finals at age 38 is pretty damn impressive even if you don't win Finals MVP.

Does he ride off into the sunset now?  What about Ginobili?  I would say Ginobili is closer to retirement that Duncan, but the Spurs "all for one and one for all attitude" would lead me to believe that if one comes back, the other will. Speaking of Ginobili, he's got to be considered one of the greatest 6th men of all time right? Did you see that monster jam?  Sure he traveled like crazy, but that was a statement dunk.

And who made a bigger statement than Kawhi Leonard?  Finals MVP?!? HOLY CRAP!  He's the third youngest ever.  (Behind Magic and Duncan.)  (His fantasy value just went up tenfold, it's too bad no one will remember that the Spurs are the least fantasy-friendly team in the NBA.)  When his name was announced last night it was such a feel-good moment.  The crowd reaction was a mix of elation and we're so proud of you, we can't believe how you've grown!  It was a really neat moment that was somewhat expected, but still surreal and shocking when it happened.

I love Kawhi and his humble nature.  It's refreshing to see athletes that don't act like douche bags.  And what a perfect system for him to be in.  The whole Spurs team is pretty incredible in that respect.  Their unselfish nature is thing of beauty in this egocentric world and something we will all miss when it's gone, even if we don't realize it at the moment.  Their ball movement was unreal, which obviously stems from their unselfish nature.

When this leads to championships, it's easy to see why it's done.  Other years I'm sure it could be more frustrating.  Kyrie Irving was drafted the same year as Kawhi.  Irving has commercials and All-Star games on his resume and Kawhi thus-far has had none of that.  He gave up that extra money and spotlight for the good of the team (granted with his personality, I'm assuming this was easier for him than most) and now look where he is. But don't you think in February when Kyrie won the All-Star game MVP, Kawhi was thinking in the back of his head, "Why can't I do that?"  Maybe he wasn't, but could you blame him if he was?  The irony is Kyrie would give up 50 All-Star Game MVP's to switch spots with Kawhi Leonard right now.

At some point in the not too distant future, the Spurs are going to be headlined by Leonard and Parker alone.  No Duncan, Ginobili, or Popovich.  It may be a rough patch for a while.  But, I would argue that behind the Celtics and the Lakers, the Spurs are the most prestigious team in the NBA.  That's got to be an attractive destination for free agents.  Plus you would get to play with two former Finals MVP's.  And if all else fails, the Spurs are one of the best teams on draft nights, and can probably draft another Tim Duncan if the opportunity presents itself.


Other notables that happened this season:

Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant... yikes!

I predicted the Knicks would be crappy and crazy this year, (in particular J.R. Smith) and they didn't disappoint.  J.R. Smith was an embarrassment.  Untying shoes?  You are a moron.  I predict that when Smith's contract is up, he will be out of the NBA, he is really that bad.

Speaking of crazy, Lance Stephenson WTF?  But unlike J.R., Lance can contribute at a really high level when he is under control.  I'm really interested to see what unfolds this season for him and how he responds once he gets paid.

MCW nearly had a quadruple double in his first game.  Unfortunately that was the high point of the Sixers season.

The Lakers had the worst season in franchise history.  I predicted they could make the "7th or 8th seed" thinking that Kobe would be back for 3/4 of the season and the rest of the team wouldn't be ravaged by injuries.  In hindsight I somehow forgot how good the West is, and even if the team was in tact they more than likely wouldn't have made the playoffs.  I did enjoy Nick Young this year though.  The Lakers have money to burn as well, so it will be interesting to see what gets done.  Regardless of what delusional Laker fans say, I wouldn't be expecting a championship next year.  And there is a very real possibility that Kobe as we know him is done.

courtesty: nba.com

The Nets had an interesting season.  The started off pretty crappy, but then turned out like most expected. But is Garnett done?  And is PP headed back to the Celtics?

The Clippers were all over the place, CP3 had has annual knee injury, and surprisingly Blake Griffin stepped his game up considerably (3rd in MVP voting) during his absence.  I seriously was starting to think Blake was all hype and was going to crash and burn once his age caught up to him.  But his leadership and mid-range jump shot are starting to make me think otherwise.

The Rockets were somewhat in the same region as the Clips.  Unlike the Clips, James Harden and Dwight Howard have essentially sealed the deal that neither are leaders, and it was proven as such when they were upset in the first round.


Awards and accomplishments:

MVP Kevin Durant
Durant was in beast mode this year.  Westbrook was in and out of the lineup with his knee surgeries.  Durant heaved the Thunder squad on his back and kept them in the upper echelon of the ridiculous Western Conference.  I feel bad he still didn't get his championship, but he's only 25.  I will also point out if you weren't touched by his MVP speech, then you have no soul.

ROTY Michael Carter-Williams
Not much to say about this, other than MCW was a pleasant surprise to most this year.

DPOY Joakim Noah

When Derrick Rose got re-injured the Bulls were expected to squeak into the playoffs again.  After trading Luol Deng it was expected they would be in tank mode.  Not so fast.  Noah did something that was amazing.  He brought the extra-depleted Bulls to the playoffs.  How the hell was that even possible?  48 wins!  That team probably should have won 28 games.  (With no real scorer in sight, it proved that defense does int fact win games.)  Noah legitimately got himself into MVP talk, and tossed the Bulls on his back this year post-All-Star break.  Triple-doubles?  No problem.  Noah was phenomenal this year.

MIP Goran Dragic
The Suns were supposed to be a lottery team.  A fun team, but a lottery team.  Dragic and Bledsoe weren't supposed to work, and even if they did, it wouldn't translate into wins.  Bledsoe ended up missing a huge chunk of the year, and being a theme of this blog entry, Dragic carried the burden of the team.  (He had some help from unexpected places like Gerald Green, and the Morris twins as well.) Not only was he MIP, but he made the 3rd team in the most loaded position in the game, mad props to Dragic.

SMOY Jamal Crawford
He's always in the running for this award.  Not much further explanation is needed.

All NBA 1st Team
Kevin Durant
James Harden
LeBron James
Joakim Noah
Chris Paul

Paul was sort of a shaky choice only because he missed a handful of games, and many would have put Curry in his place.  Still though, it's not a tragedy by any means.  Despite Harden's failings in leadership, he is easily the best SG in the NBA, although that position is rapidly getting worse by the year.  (Fun fact: he's the only SG on any of the 3 teams!)

All NBA 2nd Team

Notice the only player not smiling...

Stephen Curry
Blake Griffin
Dwight Howard
Kevin Love
Tony Parker

You could make the argument Griffin got screwed out of being on the 1st team.  But with Durant and LeBron around, those two forward spots are pretty much locked up for the foreseeable future.  It was interesting though how many forwards stepped up their game this year.  Kevin Love returned to prominence after an injury-plagued last year.  His Timberwolves didn't love up to expectations, and it will be interesting to see how his future plays out in the next year.

All NBA 3rd Team
LaMarcus Aldridge
Goran Dragic
Paul George
Al Jefferson
Damian Lillard

courtesy: sbnation.com

The future is looking bright in Portland.  You could argue Aldridge to the 2nd team over Love and probably be right.  At the beginning of the year, Paul George was looking like a MVP.  He was making people wonder how we were going to have 3 forwards on the 1st team?  Then something happened.  Not just to him, but the whole Pacer team.  He redeemed himself in the playoffs (his teammates definitely didn't, with the exception of David West) but never got to essentially being the third best player in the game like he was the first few months of the season.  People laughed at Al Jefferson for signing with the Bobcats, but look at him now!  I'm happy for Big Al.  This was a long time coming.




In summation, this season was crazy.  Just a weird, crazy season. The one thing to take away from it is:
NEVER COUNT OUT THE SPURS!  We say it every year, but soon forget by the next.  This time don't!