Jalen Green and Amen Thompson are leading a streaking Rockets team into the Play-In Tournament conversation, while Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns are putting things together, but have a bleak future.
Last week, we ended with a bit of a soliloquy about the joys of fandom, the childhood innocence of the insanity of March Madness, and the leak in the balloon that is betting. This week, we have Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter likely ending his own NBA career by betting unders on his own player props. While readers here likely don’t have NBA careers to ruin, this is my way of saying the obvious:
The way sports betting is being integrated with consumption of sports products, from coverage to talk shows to scoreboards, is going to give us a generation of athletes that grew up betting and can’t get away with it.
Porter is not the first and won’t be the last. The NBA, and any other sports league for that matter, has been sowing for the past few years. The reaping starts now. It will only get worse. And that is disgusting.
I quite frankly have nothing against the concept of betting in sports. I hosted poker nights in college. Honestly, the greatest player (arguably) in league history had a gambling problem. Who am I to condemn anything?
The issue I’m getting at is that it’s a lot harder to criminalize and scandalize the Paul Crewe’s of the real world when an ESPN host is calling bets “risk free investments.”
What kind of world do we live in when people can put “prop” bets on Two-Way players?
We are heading down a dangerous road. https://t.co/BjzURLafdf
— Bobby Marks (@BobbyMarks42) March 25, 2024
We are not heading down a dangerous road. We are there.
I’m sorry to start on such a rant-y note. My issue with betting has always been multi-faceted. The point I’ve failed to mention is how it continues to dehumanize athletes, literally naming them as props. All in all, I think betting should be a small niche market, insulated and reserved for those who have the ability to protect themselves. Instead, it’s becoming a cornerstone of the media landscape.
Anyway, the over/under on number of references to niche media in this iteration of “In The Loopus” is 5.5. We already have one in Paul Crewe, let’s see how many we can get up to.
Let’s get to it.
Houston, We Have Lift Off
As an Amen Thompson homer, it’s been a great few weeks. As a Jalen Green non-believer, it’s been a great few weeks — not because I’ve been right, but because I like watching good basketball, which Green had failed to provide before this stretch.
I have held off on talking about the Rockets many times. My notes are littered with mentions of Houston. My personal love with Alperen Şengün as a player has been well-recorded going as far back as my assertion that he was a part of the best duo drafted together that year… along with Usman Garuba (yikes).
But, despite his spot as the fulcrum that everything runs around in H-Town, this stretch has been largely without Şengün.
Honestly, despite impressive stretches from Jock Landale, this stretch has come without a center as a whole.
The Rockets have been starting a five man lineup of Fred VanVleet, Green, Thompson, Dillon Brooks, and, vitally, Jabari Smith Jr. in the middle. It’s the positional versatility that Thompson’s physical gifts allow that make this lineup even theoretically possible, but it’s been Smith’s ability to survive against bigger centers and punish everyone in front of him as a low usage creator and spacer that have made it a strength.
Just how good have the Rockets been in March? Well, they’re on the cusp of knocking the Golden State Warriors out of Play-In Tournament position, which has to feel good after past playoff road blocks. But, this stretch has them as arguably the best team in the league (EXCLUSIVELY IN THE MONTH OF MARCH. Do not yell at me in the comments).
Rockets this month:
1st in win %
2nd in Offensive Rating
4th in Defensive Rating
2nd in Net RatingNow just 1 game out of play-in. @ OKC tonight without SGA. pic.twitter.com/caFAjekRn6
— Underdog NBA (@Underdog__NBA) March 27, 2024
There’s one last thing to discuss in this stretch. The Brooklyn Nets reportedly turned down an offer of Green and three-to-four first-rounders for forward Mikal Bridges. Despite it being another iteration of what I am now calling Brooklyn Thrift Shop Fever, it is the ultimate inflection point of Green’s career and the Rockets’ season.
At the root of Green’s explosion has been his much increased and deservedly lauded buy in on defense and the way it allows him to run in the open court. Does the absence of Şengün allow Green to operate more as the singularity at the center of the Rockets’ universe? Is it sustainable when the Turkish Ticket comes back? That is the question. But the Rockets have done what bad teams don’t do. They’ve reshuffled their identity after losing their best player. For that reason alone, this rebuild is in a better state than haters like me thought.
The Sun Will Come Up
The Phoenix Suns made two major trades this past offseason. One max player in, one max player out. A soul for a soul, in the valley of the sun.
Dumping Landry Shamet and Chris Paul for Bradley Beal was a no brainer. Flipping Deandre Ayton for Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkić was a question mark.
The most impactful player involved in those trades for the Suns is Grayson Allen.
Is that hyperbolic? Of course. Beal has had moments this year, including a dribble combo of four consecutive in and outs resulting in a made mid-range (who says 2K isn’t realistic?). But, if you told me that Nurkić would be a significantly better player for the Suns than he had been for the Portland Trail Blazers since that unfortunate quad tendon tear, and added in a great coaching year from Frank Vogel, and Allen’s ascension into top five shooters in the NBA conversations, and completely ignored the presence of a Royce O’Neale deadline trade, I’d be shocked to hear that the Suns are eighth in the West, firmly in the Play-In race.
Beal is averaging a respectable 18 points on excellent shooting splits this season. That is nothing to be upset at for a clear third option that has dealt with injury issues all year. The good news is that the Suns are 26-17 with Beal in the lineup. They are winning just over 1.5 games for each one they lose. The bad news is that, at 16-13, the Suns are winning at a similar rate without Beal.
Considering Beal’s huge cap hit and mammoth contract, he should be one of the pushing reasons for the Suns winning. He is not that. Additionally, and this is entirely subjective and biased, the Suns are one of the least fun to watch teams in the league. Devin Booker is a case study in what a scoring off-guard should be in the modern NBA on offense. Kevin Durant is Kevin Durant. Beal is, in my opinion, one of the least watchable stars in the NBA.
The consolation prize for this disappointment is the incredible rise of the second best heel in the current NBA, Grayson Allen.
Most Catch & Shoot FGA Post-All-Star
1. DiVincenzo: 138 FGA—54.3 EFG%
2. Klay: 125—55.6%
3. Murphy III: 111—50.0%
4. G. Allen: 103—75.7%
4. Vucevic: 103—50.0%
6. Beasley: 95—50.5%
7. MPJ: 93—70.4%
7. Mikal: 93—57.0%
7. Curry: 93—52.7%
10. Naz Reid: 87—65.5%Firing off the catch pic.twitter.com/BovCQiqx12
— NBA University (@NBA_University) March 25, 2024
Considering the first and fourth name on that list, it’s kind of amazing how much shooting talent the Bucks have let go.
Either way, the Suns are not built in a way that will last. This team was theoretically excellent in 2020. But, with the implementation of the new CBA, this team is just in a sad place. Don’t even start to think about Beal’s full no trade clause.
The 2021 Suns were one of the most fun teams in the NBA. Bridges, Booker, Cam Johnson, and Ayton were all homegrown talent. Cam Payne was a great comeback story. Paul was likable for about 20 minutes.
The Suns traded everything for Durant. That’s what you do to acquire a top-15 player all-time in (the twilight of) his prime. But, the Suns have doubled down on the Yankee way of buying a title. And it has not looked good for them. With no picks going forward, Durant aging at 35, Beal seemingly depreciating at 30, and Booker stepping into the team’s second super max deal, the time to pivot is long since gone. Hilariously, Allen is about to be a free agent, as is O’Neale.
Yeah, this is a slow motion car crash.
Story Pups
Eulogizing the G League Ignite – I, for one, am very sad to see the G League Ignite team go. I continue to believe that exposing prospects to real, NBA level athletes and competition in developmental environments is valuable and should be encouraged, but the proliferation of NIL deals has removed what was the main attraction: fair pay-for-play.
Still though, we don’t get NIL deals in college basketball if the G League doesn’t swipe talents like Jonathan Kuminga, Scoot Henderson, Jalen Green, Marjon Beauchamp, Dyson Daniels, and others. Honestly, such a high percentage of players that chose the Ignite have made the NBA that I think they could’ve stuck around for another few years.
The NBA is also supposedly looking to get involved early in the process, potentially hinting at an NBA-AAU circuit or some other integration of high school ball.
The other side of the mirror is the continued investment in the G League. Every NBA team now has a G League affiliate. The G spans three countries now as well. Every team’s fans care about their fringe roster guys. The time of the Ignite is over, but I would hope that there are still draft prospects who choose this developmental league. History has shown that it creates pros. If money talks, the Ignite just gave a speech lasting years.
Two of Hartensteins – Isaiah Hartenstein is going to get paid this offseason. The injury to Mitchell Robinson has let I-Hart build up his value and he has slingshotted himself way out of range for the New York Knicks. I can talk about the offensive value he’s added — the push shots, the passes to find back cuts, or even the hilarious amount of effort on the break — but I’ll instead point at his defense.
One of the most valuable skillsets a center can have is their ability to shut down the pick and roll and manage the challenge of covering both the rolling big and downhill handler. Covering the two on one is what gets centers awards. This is where Bam Adebayo or Rudy Gobert display a large portion of their value. If it’s about finding the best of both worlds, you might as well call Isaiah Hartenstein the Hannah Montana of the pick and roll because look at these numbers.
Fewest points allowed per pick as the big defender (guarding the screener) this season. pic.twitter.com/ar3BS69sqs
— Todd Whitehead (@CrumpledJumper) March 26, 2024
In the words of one Russian man in a movie about poker, give that man his money.
The Fickle Nature of a Thibs Rotation – When the Knicks traded promising young shooting guard Quentin Grimes, the expectation was that returning wing Bojan Bogdanovic would provide any requisite scoring that went out of the door. Instead, Bogdanovic has started a slow descent out of the rotation while personal developmental green flag Miles McBride has taken all of the available touches for himself and established himself as the guard everyone needs.
It’s worth noting that after trading Immanuel Quickley, the Knicks immediately signed McBride to a three-year, $13 million extension. He has already outperformed that in the months he’s had in his increased role. If you account for not just McBride, but also the Italian Sensation Donte DiVincenzo, the Knicks may have the two best non-rookie contracts in the NBA, and certainly two of the best bench pieces.
Clippers Since the Break – I’ll leave this here as more of an earmark. We are on fraud watch for the newly rebranded Clips. Keep an eye on them.
Predicting the Funniest Possible Offseason Story – Okay, so here it is. The Boston Celtics are going to draft Bronny James and essentially hold him for ransom until LeBron joins the Celtics in one of the nastiest moves from an aesthetic standpoint OR someone pays way too much to get the Jams family together. It truly feels like a Machiavellian Brad Stevens move. The world would split in half before LeBron joins Boston.
Hero of the Week: Pat Spencer
Funny enough, this story starts not with anything positive, but with the sheer disgust I had when I saw an NBA team field a player wearing number 61 in a real NBA game. A few minutes later, there was no one on the court I liked more.
For those of you who watched Robert De Niro play Anne Hathaway’s intern, Pat Spencer is the typical story of someone who figured out what they wanted to do later than anyone else, but still went for it.
Once the best lacrosse player in America, Spencer transitioned to basketball for any multitude of reasons. The money probably doesn’t hurt but these types of things rarely happen. There is a reason as to why Chevy Chase failed to succeed as a non-comedic actor. Pat Spencer has done that, and it should be celebrated. I just wish he didn’t pick such an ugly number.
See you guys next week!