Dallas Mavericks

The 2022-23 Dallas Mavericks can be defined by missing the playoffs and play-in entirely the year after making the Western Conference Finals.

What did we learn?

The Mavs royally fucked up the Jalen Brunson situation.

To not only fail to resign Brunson but to also lose the asset for nothing is a horrendous look for an organization letting its franchise player down.

The Mavs’ heliocentric offense was more Luka-heavy than ever this season out of pure necessity.  Luka provided the same LukaMagic to an even bigger extent, an early frontrunner for MVP doing absolutely everything for the Mavs.

In the first 50 games of the season: (Luka played in 45 games)

• Luka led the Mavs in scoring 38 times.

• Luka led the Mavs in assists 34 times.

• Luka led the Mavs in rebounds 28 times.

No team in the NBA in December won more games than the Dallas Mavericks and that’s because Luka somehow took his game up another level. There was a tremendous stretch of three 50-point outings in five games (!!!) and a 60-21-10 performance that was beyond legendary.

But the Mavs took a giant step back in January, going 6-9 with the 6th-worst net rating in the league. In the first seven games of this season that Luka did not play, the Mavs lost every game. (And they lost by an average of 12 points.) Furthermore, when Luka scored 30+ points, the Mavs were 26-18, but in the other 38 games, the Mavs went 12-26.

And so, the Mavs traded for Kyrie to get Luka some help in the form of another ball-handler and shot-creator. Trading for Kyrie worked out in the end about as well as it has worked out for all of the other teams that have acquired Kyrie — which is to say that it did not work out at all.

It was not all on Kyrie by any means. But there is a very consistent theme with him. He shows up to teams and they begin a downward spiral. After the Kyrie trade, the Mavs went 10-18 and decided to tank their way out of the play-in, a move that did actually work out, but the league frowned heavily upon. (The Mavs were fined $750K, chump change to Mark Cuban.)

It didn’t help that Jason Kidd did not trust the Mavs’ biggest offseason acquisition in Christian Wood. C-Wood off the bench was fine (he started just 17 games), but he needed more minutes if only for the additional offense. However, there is no denying that he still looks for his own shot too much and that his defense can be quite shaky.

J-Kidd overall was not the same level of head coach as last year when he transformed the Mavs’ defense. The Mavs’ D last year became their pillar of strength, a top-5 defense from Dec. until the end of last season. This year? The Mavs’ defense was bottom-5 over that same stretch.

As for some of the role players:

• Reggie Bullock started the season ICE COLD again.

• The Mavs did well when Tim Hardaway Jr. scored the ball, a 29-19 record when THJ scored at least 10 points, and a 9-25 record in all other games.

• They missed DFS on the wing dearly after trading him to Brooklyn.

• Spencer Dinwiddie tried his best in the Brunson role, but he was sent packing for Kyrie as well.

• This Mavs season will always have Maxi Kleber’s walk-off 3 against the Lakers.

A definite silver lining to an otherwise marred season for the Mavs was the significant improvement from Josh Green. With 10 more minutes per game, Green doubled his scoring this season and shot 40 percent from 3. He also shot 64 percent on 2s, an excellent number for a guard.

The other good news is that the Mavs do actually get to keep their first-round pick. Tanking out of the play-in paid off.

But the Mavs are very much on a Luka clock to get this right. To see him lose his joy this season playing the game that he loves so much was an ominous sign.

Tick tock.

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Additional Notes

• It was wild that Dwight Powell went from an 82-game Iron Man last year to receiving multiple DNP-CDs to start this season.

• The JaVale McGee experiment was a $17-million blunder. For as rejuvenated as JaVale looked in LA and PHX, he looked just as washed in Dallas with his numbers taking a steep decline. The 8.5 minutes per game he was given were the lowest of his entire 14-year career.

• Rookie Jaden Hardy had some moments where he looked as legit as he did in the preseason. Never understood why he was not given more of a chance.

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

We don’t bet against Luka around here. Over 48.5 wins.

Mavs 2022-23 record: (38-44)

Nope. But we don’t blame Luka in the least.

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What’s Next?

• The No. 10 pick in the draft. If they keep this pick, using it for a defensive-oriented player seems like the move.

• The free agent list here is lengthy: Kyrie, C-Wood, Frankie Smokes, Keef Morris, Justin Holiday, Theo Pinson and Dwight Powell, the longest-tenured Mav.

• Bring back Luka’s joy for the game.

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Favorite Mavs Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

60 PTS
21 REB
10 AST

Luka Doncic is the first player EVER in NBA history to record 60+ PTS, 20+ REB, and 10+ AST in a game.

Historic!! pic.twitter.com/TIYIc3OZnL

— NBA (@NBA) December 28, 2022

Luka's reaction after sending it to OT 💀 pic.twitter.com/2MmhqTXju1

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 28, 2022

Utah Jazz

The 2022-23 Utah Jazz can be defined as a Young Surprise Team that shocked the world but eventually faded out.

What did we learn?

A new era of Jazz basketball could not have started better.

This Jazz team was the perfect blend of a random assortment of castaway players with something to prove.

Three weeks into the season, the Jazz were 10-3 and sitting perched atop the Western Conference Standings.

Turns out, Lauri Markkanen just needed to get to Utah all along. Markkanen, with the highest usage of his career as Utah’s No. 1 option, put up by far and away career-best numbers that earned him a first-time All-Star selection and the NBA’s Most Improved Player.

• 2021-22 Cavs Markkanen: 14.8 ppg, 5.7 reb, 35% from 3

• 2022-23 Jazz Markkanen: 25.6 ppg, 8.6 reb, 39% from 3

He was absolutely vital to Utah’s success this season. When Markkanen scored 18+ points, the Jazz had a record of 30-26. In all other games, the Jazz were 7-19.

In the beginning, Mike Conley was still here to steer the ship. He averaged 12 points and 8 assists over those first three weeks. Then Conley got injured and the Jazz immediately lost five games in a row.

Conley was eventually shipped out at the trade deadline, which left Jordan Clarkson as the last vestige of the previous era of Jazz basketball. Like Markkanen, Clarkson put up career-best numbers, averaging 20.8 points and 4.4 assists, running some de facto point guard after Conley’s departure to Minnesota.

Speaking of Minnesota, let’s check out the per-36 numbers comparison between Rudy Gobert and Walker Kessler this season:

• Gobert: 15.7 points, 13.6 rebounds, 1.6 blocks

• Kessler: 14.4 points, 13.1 rebounds, 3.7 blocks

Per-36 numbers are not everything, but this is as good of an indicator as any that Danny Ainge once again pulled off an absolute HEIST. Kessler is a 7-foot-1 shot-blocking monster who even posted a higher Player Efficiency Rating than Gobert and swatted the fourth most blocks in the NBA. The average annual salary for Kessler ($3.3 mil) is currently $38 million LESS than Gobert’s $41 million.

Ochai Agbaji, another rookie that the Jazz recouped from trading away their stars, did not play that much at the beginning of the year, but he played well when given the opportunity. Over the last month of the season, Agbaji had four games with 20+ points while averaging 14.7 points per game and 31 mins a night.

Speaking of the last month of the season, Talen Horton-Tucker started 20 straight games after the All-Star break while averaging 17 points and 6 assists, also dabbling in some de facto point guard duties for the Jazz.

The Jazz eventually threw in the towel for their play-in bid over the last five weeks. On Feb. 26, the Jazz were still a .500 team and the 8-seed in the West. Utah’s record the rest of the way was 6-14. The plug was pulled and the tank emerged.

But between the assets collected and the talent already on this roster, it’s safe to say that Danny Ainge has done it again.

This, THIS RIGHT HERE, is how you rebuild on the fly.

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Additional Notes

• Not only does Utah have a dynamic frontcourt duo in Markkanen and Kessler, but it sure looks like they have a smart, young players coach in Will Hardy. (Lord knows the Celtics missed him dearly.)

• Collin Sexton’s YOUNG BULL charge at the beginning of the season where he hunted the reigning 2-time MVP in Jokic by stomping his hooves before driving right at him was wild and entertaining as hell.

• Out of the NBA for a year, the Jazz took a flier in February on former 5th overall pick Khris Dunn. Dunn played really well. In 22 games, he averaged 13-5-4.

• It would not be a basketballin.net Jazz Rev-U without mentioning Simone Fontecchio! The 6-foot-8 Italian can light it up and is not afraid to let it fly. Fontecchio played sparingly, but he still had five games with four made 3s.

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

More than any other team besides maybe the Spurs, the Jazz have the biggest incentive to win the great Tank Wars of 2022-23. Under 24 wins.

Jazz 2022-23 record: (37-45)

NOPE. Not even close. The Jazz got their 25th win on Jan. 23.

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What’s Next?

• The No. 9, 16 and 28 picks in the draft. It would be absolutely shocking if the Jazz don’t make at least one trade on draft night.

• Word on the street is that Cason Wallace from Kentucky has received a draft promise from the Jazz at No. 9. Wallace is precisely who KOC has in his latest mock as well, saying that a defensive-oriented point guard is exactly what Kris Dunn previewed for the Jazz.

• Jordan Clarkson has a player option that will most likely be declined. Keeping Clarkson in Utah seems like the right move for both parties.

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Favorite Jazz Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

This is why Collin Sexton is called "Young Bull" 🤣 pic.twitter.com/oPQFhRwNQz

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 20, 2022

Lauri Markkanen POSTERIZED Gobert 😳 pic.twitter.com/lHqDjvjHEd

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 22, 2022

The Return of Power Dunk City. Coming Soon!

Washington Wizards

The 2022-23 Washington Wizards can be defined by being (once again) the most mediocre team in the league.

What did we learn?

The endless treadmill of mediocrity keeps on running in D.C.

At least Kuzma’s outrageous and hilarious pre-game fits are constant entertainment and forever polarizing.

This Wizards team actually had some good stretches of ball and some really terrible stretches, too. Check it out:

• Oct. 19 - Nov 21: (10-7 record). No. 24 offense and No. 7 defense. — Decent start.

• Nov. 22 - Dec. 19: (1-13 record). No. 17 offense and No. 30 defense. — Horrible second month.

• Dec. 20 - Jan. 31: (13-6 record). No. 10 offense and No. 7 defense. — Great bounce back.

• Feb. 1 - March 3: (6-6 record). No. 10 offense and No. 22 defense. — .500 ball for a month.

• March 4 - April 9: (5-15 record). No. 25 offense and No. 23 defense. — Awful finish.

Maybe instead of a treadmill, this season should be classified as a roller coaster of mediocrity.

Did the Wiz actually have three players average 20 points per game? They did! Beal (23.2), Porzingis (23.2) and Kuzma (21.2) each pulled it off.

Bradley Beal, freshly inked last summer to a $251 million contract paying him an average of $50 million annually, played the fewest games of the Wizards’ “three-headed monster.” Beal played 50 games this season, which was actually 10 more than last season and right on par with his average games played over the last four seasons after playing all 82 games in both 2017-18 and 2018-19.

Beal actually shot the ball better this season and was more efficient, but it did not move the needle for his baseline stats, which look eerily similar to last season, if not a little bit worse.

• 2021-22 Blue Panda: 23.2 ppg, 6.6 ast, 4.7 reb.

• 2022-23 Blue Panda: 23.2 ppg, 5.4 ast, 3.9 reb.

$50 milly for a non-All-Star, Wizards’ max contracts stay holding the franchise in place.

Porzingis had his best season since being a Knick, playing 65 games, his most since 2017-18. He averaged a career-high in points and looked as nimble as ever on defense, regaining his footing as a solid defender of the paint. He sure popped off for some high-scoring games as well, dropping 43 points and seven 3s against the Hawks in March and six 3s and 41 points on the Wolves back in late November.

Kuzma continued his upward trajectory in D.C., also averaging a career-high in points with his highest usage rate ever. He rang up the Knicks for a 40-7-7 game back in January. But as previously mentioned, his iconic pregame outfits have become his calling card.

Daniel Gafford deserves a shout-out for sneaking onto the T-Shirt All-Star team and for being the Wizards’ iron man, playing in a team-high 78 games.

No. 10 overall draft pick Johnny Davis didn’t play a lick until the end of the season when he finally showed some much-needed signs of life. Davis did not play more than 10 minutes in a game until fucking March 14.

A week after the season ended, the Wizards fired GM Tommy Sheppard. After four years on the job, he only made it a fourth of the time as the immortal and infamous Ernie Grunfeld’s 16-year reign.

The Wizards are retaining head coach Wes Unseld Jr. for now, but until proven otherwise, the Wiz’ destiny remains the same.

The treadmill keeps on running.

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Additional Notes

• Deni Avdija might not have played in all 82 games this season like he did last year, but 76 games is still commendable. His 3-point shooting at 29.7 percent, however, is not. But Deni is a solid defender and an excellent rebounder.

• On the contrary to Avdija, Corey Kispert shot 42.4 percent from 3 on high-volume 5.2 attempts per game. Kispert also shot 63.7 percent on 2s.

• Monte Morris gets the final mention here for averaging a career-high 5.3 assists per game. Morris’ shot has been the model of consistency, connecting on 48 percent from the field for a third consecutive season.

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

This one feels like it will be especially close for the mediocre Wiz. Leaning to the Under. Under 35.5 wins.

Wizards 2022-23 record: (35-47)

Yes! It was a sweat, but the Rockets had our back on the last day of the season!

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What’s Next?

• The No. 8 pick in the draft. KOC’s mock draft currently has Anthony Black from Arkansas. “Shades of Lonzo Ball” does sound perfect here.

• Kuzma will surely decline his $13 million player option and become a free agent, but Porzingis and his agent will contemplate his $36 million player option for next season.

• The Wizards new front office is taking shape, hiring new President of Basketball Ops Michael Winger, who has already brought in former Hawks GM Travis Schlenk to help him. Some whispers have suggested that this new Wizards regime will opt for a full-on tear-it-down rebuild.

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Favorite Wizards Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

CLUTCH. KUZ. pic.twitter.com/DqjxkUI49i

— Washington Wizards (@WashWizards) January 12, 2023

Indiana Pacers

The 2022-23 Indiana Pacers can be defined as an early-season Young Surprise Team that eventually had the wheels fall off.

What did we learn?

The Pacers started the season as pesky as EVER with their point guard of the future and now.

With Tyrese Haliburton leading the way and putting up blistering numbers, the Pacers looked like the Young Surprise Team that was promised.

Haliburton had all of the room to cook with Brogdon out of the kitchen (and in Boston), leading the charge for the Pacers’ fast-paced high-octane run-and-gun and run-and-gun some more offense. High-assist games for Hali were a regular occurrence. In November alone, he had seven games of 13+ assists and racked up 14+ assists five times in a six-game stretch.

Haliburton was a no-doubt first-time All-Star, putting up season-long numbers of 20 and 10 with 40 percent sniping from 3 on high volume of 7.2 attempts per game.

On Nov. 29, the Pacers were fresh off an Andrew Nembhard buzzer-beating 3 against the Lakers in LA, sitting at #4 in the Eastern Conference, averaging the third-most made 3s and third-most assists per game in the entire NBA.

Fast forward to Jan. 12 and the pesky Pacers were still doing the damn thing. A 23-19 winning record had them #6 in the East, and the Pacers were still top-5 in both made 3s and assists per game and No. 1 in fast break points.

But that’s precisely when Haliburton went down and out with an injury. The Pacers were toast without him, immediately losing 9 out of 10 games as the wheels fell off the wagon.

Against a more difficult second-half schedule, they were never able to get the wheels back on. But it cannot be reiterated enough that when this team was up and running at full steam, these Pacers were as pesky as ever, blasting past their preseason win total with two months to spare.

In addition to Haliburton’s brilliance, rookie Benedict Mathurin was so good that he was in early-season talks for both Rookie of the Year and Sixth Man of the Year, an off-the-bench spark with one gear: pedal to the floor. Mathurin might have lost steam with the Pacers as the season progressed, but he always stayed attacking the rim and playing with a chip on his shoulder.

Mathurin led the team in free throws per game (5.8) and was First Team All-Rookie, scoring the second-most points (16.7) among all rooks behind only Paolo.

Myles Turner put years of trade rumors behind him, letting his game do the talking. He earned a contract extension by putting up career-high numbers, 18 points a night while remaining top-5 in the NBA in total blocks.

Buddy Hield did what he does best: let the 3s fly. Hield shot a sparkling 42.5 percent on high-volume 8.5 3-point attempts per game.

Aaron Nesmith and Jalen Smith proved capable of having big games given the opportunity presented. The former 2020 lottery picks might not be full-time starters in the NBA as they were for large portions of this season, but there is a spot in the NBA for them as role players at least.

It helped Rick Carlisle to have T.J. McConnell’s professional backup point guard skills available this season. McConnell is the embodiment of the peskiness that is at the Pacers’ soul.

The Pacers surged a little bit in March but took their foot off the gas over the last few weeks and didn’t make the play-in.

This season was still a success. The Pesky Pacers played a fun and aesthetically pleasing style of ball.

We know that a Young Surprise Team lies within.

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Additional Notes

• Two sophomore slumps occurred in Indiana this season as Isaiah Jackson and Chris Duarte both saw their numbers dip with less usage.

  • Duarte dealt with ankle injuries throughout the season, missing 36 games.

  • Jackson led the team in total dunks again, but his shot away from the rim could use some work.

• Always a fan of Jordan Nwora around here, the Pacers ended up with Nwora at the deadline in the KD to the Suns trade. That was a 4-team deal where the Bucks got Jae Crowder. The Pacers were a dumping ground and only had to give up a Juan Pablo Vaulet to the Nets. (Vaulet is an Argentinian drafted in the second round of 2015 who has yet to play in the NBA.)

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

This team should be a lot more fun than they are good. Under 23.5 wins.

Pacers 2022-23 record: (35-47)

Nope. The Pacers were plenty good in addition to being fun.

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What’s Next?

• Three 1st-round picks at No. 7, 26 and 29. With one of the later picks, we would love to see the Pacers take Jaime Jaquez from UCLA.

• The Pacers are projected around $25 million in cap space. Defense on the wing would be helpful.

• Haliburton is eligible for a five-year, $204 million contract extension that would be the largest Pacers’ franchise history. Consider it done.

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Favorite Pacers Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

Tyrese Haliburton going nuts in the clutch AGAIN here today. 11 straight Pacers points, 15 in the 4th. Pacers now lead with 25 seconds left. https://t.co/4CF0ONxkN8 pic.twitter.com/0zumLKiaMB

— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) December 31, 2022

New Year’s Eve Haliburton was COOKIN.

Orlando Magic

The 2022-23 Orlando Magic can be defined as being a Young Surprise Team when healthy.

What did we learn?

Paolo Banchero is the real deal, the NBA’s Rookie of the Year.

The No. 1 overall pick touted a rare blend of size and strength for a 19-year-old rookie. Paolo’s game fit seamlessly in the NBA, and he looked like a star in the making from the jump. To hear some call him a potentially bigger version of Jayson Tatum is a scary thought.

However, the Magic started the season on the wrong foot. A 1-7 record over the first two weeks and a 9-game losing streak shortly after left them 5-20 at the bottom of the barrel.

Already a young team, the Magic were dealing with injuries to their veterans, missing shot creation from Markelle Fultz and perimeter defense from Gary Harris. Injuries to others piled up as well. Cole Anthony, Jalen Suggs, Wendell Carter Jr and even Paolo missed time. It was no shock that the Magic had a difficult time winning games with such a shorthanded and inexperienced group.

When Fultz made his season debut, the Magic offense immediately had a sense of direction and flow to it. That’s when the Magic started taking teams by surprise, ripping off a 6-game win streak and winning 8 out of 9 games. Orlando was a completely different team from that point forward as they continued to finally became fully healthy and realized.

From the first week of the December until the end of the season, the Magic had a winning record of 29-28 and the No. 6 defense in the NBA. (That’s not a joke and the screenshot from NBA dot com is below if you need proof.)

It’s amazing what actually having your players available can do for a team.

In mid-January, David Steele’s always fantastic “Is this anything?” segment brought to light that both Paolo and Franz Wagner were averaging 20 points a night, the youngest duo in NBA history to pull that off. Paolo held on to average exactly 20 points per game, leading the team in scoring as a rook, while Franz finished at 18.6 ppg for the season.

Franz actually went through a little bit of a sophomore slump at times when the Magic were so shorthanded, but he found his rhythm. He’s still a smooth player who can do a little bit of everything, effective playing both on and off-ball.

Wendell Carter Jr. quietly took his game up another mini-level. His base numbers were about the same as the season prior, but he was more efficient and his 3-point shot rose to 35.6 percent on 4 attempts per game — respectable numbers for a stretch big who previously did not have that in his game. (The Magic made out like bandits in the Vooch trade.)

The jumbo-sized lineups that head coach Jahmal Mosley ran out at the beginning of the season with Bol Bol and Mo Bamba were fun as hell. So were all of the Bol Bol highlights.

Cole Anthony proved to be what we previously suspected: best suited as an off-the-bench gunner. He thrived in that role and was the same leader and positive energy guy as when he started every game last season.

Just as we marveled at the end of last season, it is truly evident that this group genuinely likes playing ball together and always has each other’s backs. The Magic have a strong foundation and a fond sense of togetherness about them.

The future is very bright in Orlando.

Better keep your shades on.

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Additional Notes

• Jonathan Isaac actually played basketball, lacing them up for the first time in 904 days since his last game in the Bubble. Alas, he only played 11 games before a torn adductor required surgery and ended his season.

• Moe Wagner never missed an opportunity to be an instigator, but he was also a helpful contributor, always playing hard with intensity.

• Sophomore Jalen Suggs played less minutes than his rookie season, but his shooting improved dramatically. He had nowhere to go but up, but he made it happen.

• Trading Mo Bamba and T-Ross at the deadline marked the end of an era in Orlando. The longest-tenured Magic player is now Jonathan Isaac.

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

Hammering this Over and all in on the Magic to be this year’s Young Surprise Team and make the play-in. Over 26.5 wins.

Magic 2022-23 record: (34-48)

YES INDEED! The Magic might not have made the play-in, but they soared over 26.5 wins with a month to spare.

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What’s Next?

• The No. 6 and No. 11 picks in the draft can add more lottery pieces to this already fun, young core. Or the Magic can flip one or both of those assets to add more vets and experience.

• Per ESPN’s Bobby Marks: “They have $60 million in guaranteed contracts and can spend in free agency or bring back a majority of the roster plus two potential lottery picks. To create up to $30 million in cap space, Orlando could release Gary Harris, Goga Bitadze, Michael-Carter Williams and Admiral Schofield.”

• Another lead guard or wing could be the next ingredient for this recipe. It probably won’t happen, but Austin Reeves would be very interesting.

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Favorite Magic Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

🚨PAOLO POSTER🚨 @OrlandoMagic | #MagicTogether pic.twitter.com/DZxRmSLBV6

— Bally Sports Florida: Magic (@BallyMagic) October 20, 2022

This was the first true power dunk of the 2022-23 season.

The Return of Power Dunk City. Coming Soon.

Detroit Pistons

The 2022-23 Detroit Pistons can be defined by winning a league-worst 17 games and getting the No. 5 pick to show for it.

What did we learn?

Detroit finished last in the Eastern Conference for the second time in three years.

The Pistons have not won more than 23 games or finished better than 12th in the East since 2018-19 when they finished as the 8-seed with a .500 record. (Shoutout Pistons Blake Griffin.)

Before he was lost for the season due to a shin injury that required surgery, Cade Cunningham showed signs of blossoming into an ultimate shot creator, getting to his spots with ease. Unfortunately, he only played 12 games this season after undergoing season-ending shin surgery.

Luckily the Pistons had another prized lottery pick to at least keep things mildly interesting. That’s probably being generous, but No. 5 overall draft pick Jaden Ivey’s speed and willingness to be a passer translated well to the NBA. He struggled with his 3-point shot early on, but he connected on 42 percent of his 3s in February. He also increased his scoring every month from December to the end of the season.

How the Detroit offense would have looked this season without Bojan Bogdanovic is a mystery. (Just like the decision to not trade him at the deadline to a contender). The Pistons acquired Bogdanovic last summer and he was the team’s No. 1 option all season after Cade went down, averaging 21.6 points and 15 shot attempts a night. Despite all of the usage, he still shot 41 percent from 3 on 6.0 attempts per game.

It felt like Bogey’s presence hindered Saddiq Bey’s development as Bey took a step back with a lesser role. But then the Pistons moved on from Bey altogether at the deadline to get another big in James Wiseman.

There is nothing wrong with taking a flier on Wiseman, although he just seems so redundant for what the Pistons already have. At times, rookie Jalen Duren was a double-double machine. Isaiah Stewart stayed hustling boards and also started chucking 3s. Beef Stew can make them, but four 3-point attempts per game might be too many.

There was a random early-December night where Killian Hayes shot 10-of-13, including the dagger in OT to beat the Mavs. There were a couple of other big Killian games, but he shot 37.7 percent from the field and 28 percent from 3, which was actually a new career high.

The Pistons had the No. 28 offense and the No. 27 defense, equalling the third-worst net rating in the league ahead of only the Rockets and Spurs. They closed out the last 25 games of the season with a 2-23 record.

Dwane Casey decided to step down as head coach after the season. It was a forgettable five-year run with a 121-263 record. But at least the Pistons covered the spread in three of four games against the Raptors this season. (Detroit lost all four games to Toronto but beat them three times last season.)

With Cade going down, this was always going to be a lost season for Detroit if it wasn’t already going to be one anyway.

The hope of Wemby or another high pick to show for it was dashed away on lottery night.

There is no doubt about that stinging immensely, but at least they have a recent No. 1 pick to still be excited about.

It could always be worse.

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Additional Notes

• Shout out to Alec Burks who had a quietly solid season in Motown. Burks shot above 40 percent from 3 for a third straight season. Also, when Burks scored 18+ points this season, the Pistons had a 6-5 record. (The Pistons were 11-60 in all other games.)

• Marvin Bagley still can’t catch a break. The dude dealt with more injuries this season, playing less than 50 games for a fourth straight year.

• He’s on his third team in as many years in the league, but R.J. Hampton has always been somebody we were intrigued by. (It probably stems from his random power dunk game in Denver and meeting his fam at Summer League.)

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

Thought the Over was the move initially but have since switched it up. (That means Detroit will probably be this year’s Young Surprise Team.) Under 29.5 wins.

Pistons 2022-23 record: (17-65)

Yes indeed. The Pistons were, in fact, not a Young Surprise Team. They were the worst team in the league.

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What’s Next?

• The No. 5 pick in the draft. If that sounds familiar it’s because Detroit is picking No. 5 for a second consecutive year. The good news is that several big wings should be available. Perhaps one of the Thompson twins or Cam Whitmore from Villanova.

• Dwane Casey is out and Monty Williams is IN. His six-year, $78.5 million contract making him the highest paid coach in the game is still shocking as hell.

• The Pistons do have at least $30 million in cap space. Let’s see if they get any free agents with it.

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Favorite Pistons Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

JADEN IVEY POSTER 😳 pic.twitter.com/jtigYFYNhv

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) December 18, 2022

The Return of Power Dunk City. Coming Soon.

Houston Rockets

The 2022-23 Houston Rockets can be defined by winning less than 23 games for a third straight season.

What did we learn?

This year was more of the same in H-Town.

As they did last season, the Rockets led the league in turnovers per game. And by posting the No. 27 offense and No. 29 defense, only the Spurs had a worse net rating.

Rockets’ fans constantly grumbled at head coach Stephen Silas, disliking his rotations and citing that the offense was aimless far too often. The Rox did appear to lack a sense of direction and stability. The Rockets’ brass eventually agreed.

Silas was let go after the season to the surprise of no one. A 59-177 record over three years will do that, but let’s remember that Silas never signed up to coach a rebuild, catching a tough break when Harden and Westbrook jetted from H-Town as soon as he arrived.

For as dark as it was living in the dungeon of the West standings for yet another year, there were still bright spots.

The Rockets had several big wins over good teams in the Sixers, Bucks, Suns (twice), Celtics and Nuggets. They also won four out of the last five games, closing out the season strong for a second straight year. (Yes, most other teams had already thrown in the towel on the regular season.)

The Rockets’ success this season all hinged on Jalen Green.

One of the crazier bellwether stats of the 2022-23 season: When Jalen Green played and scored 24+ points, the Rox were 16-17. When Green played and scored less than 24 points, the Rockets had a record of 4-39. (As is always the case, we still miss his hair.)

JG4 can get buckets. His speed, acceleration and hops are all top-tier. An electrifying night was Green’s career-high 42 points against the Wolves that helped end a Rockets 13-game losing streak.

There were a lot of losing streaks, but consistent fun and entertainment in Rockets’ games were provided by none other than Alperen Sengun. Al P took his scoring up a level this season with an increase in minutes played. And any time that Kevin Porter Jr. missed time, Sengun stepped seamlessly into more of a facilitating role.

Some have called Sengun a Walmart Jokic and it’s pretty easy to see why. He is not afraid to try any pass. The higher the difficulty, the more he likes it.

No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith sure shot a lot more 3s than advertised. Smith averaged 5.1 3-point attempts per game at 31 percent for his rookie season. He had some rough games from beyond the arc, but he also finished with 18 games of three or more 3s. Props to the rook for continuing to hoist.

Jabari’s defense, his calling card, was legit. He had 19 games of 2+ blocks and nine games with multiple steals, earning his awesome nickname, the Locksmith.

Kevin Porter Jr.’s scoring increased this season, up to 19 points a night with more shot attempts and better efficiency. But his assists dropped and turnovers increased, not exactly what you want from your starting point guard.

The rumor that Woj brought to light on Christmas about Harden’s potential return to Houston has not subsided but rather picked up steam.

Thinking about a reunion between The Beard and Rockets’ owner Tillman Fertitta seemed bizarre at first when thinking about how Harden forced his way out of town, but the two are apparently still on good terms.

And thinking about a reunion between The Beard and Houston’s nightlife seems all too real.

It feels written in the stars.

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Additional Notes

• Shoutout to Usman Garuba, who is always active and bringing high hustle in scarce minutes off the bench. Tari Eason certainly plays that way, too. Eason was the first rookie to play all 82 games since Anthony Edwards two years ago, and he was a second-team All-Rookie selection.

• KJ Martin joined Eason as an 82-game Iron Man. Add KJ and Jae’Sean Tate to the high-energy Rockets list. They all play hard and with heart. Gotta respect that. KJ Martin really picked up his scoring after Eric Gordon’s departure at the trade deadline.

• Going off of the above high-energy notion, the Rockets were No. 1 in the NBA in 2nd-chance points for the season and also the No. 1 offensive-rebounding team in the league.

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

There’s too much Young Surprise Team potential here. Over 23.5 wins.

Rockets 2022-23 record: (22-60)

Close, but not quite.

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What’s Next?

• The No. 4 pick in the draft. Lottery night was disappointing for Houston, but the Rockets do also have the No. 20 pick from the Clippers from the Eric Gordon trade. At No. 4, KOC currently projects Amen Thompson and describes him as an “electric shot creator with a distinguished combination of passing vision and zippy athleticism.” Let’s go! Sounds perfect for the Rox.

• New Rockets head coach Ime Udoka could be the exact leader and no-nonsense guy that this franchise needs to get going in the right direction.

• Find the right mix of vets to implement with all of the young guns. The Rockets currently have 13 players under contract but could create close to $60 million in cap space. KJ Martin has a $1.9 million team option that he’s definitely outplayed, yet would be a bargain for the Rockets.

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Favorite Rockets Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

That's wild 👨‍🍳 https://t.co/EGsTQLH35R pic.twitter.com/kDXbpMuTao

— NBA (@NBA) April 1, 2023

Walmart Jokic, for real.

Portland Trail Blazers

The 2022-23 Portland Trail Blazers can be defined by pulling the plug once again and this time getting the No. 3 pick to show for it.

What did we learn?

For the second straight season, the Blazers unabashedly tanked their asses off.

No really.

Over the last month of the season, the Blazers went 2-15 with the No. 30 offense and No. 30 defense in the NBA.

It was another tanking masterclass as Blazers’ GM Joe Cronin shut down the starters and ran out WHO HE!? lineups featuring Jeenathan Williams, Justin Minaya, Chance Comanche and John Butler.

Before the tank rolled through, Dame was as sensational as ever, one of his best seasons yet. Dame averaged a career-high 32 points which were highlighted by a 50-, 60- and 71-point game — all at the Moda Center.

Dame did just about everything he could, but the typical Blazers’ shortcomings were just too much.

Portland’s defense actually started the very beginning of the season strong, however, that definitely did not last. The Blazers had their usual bottom-5 defense in January, February and March. Due to Portland’s lack of size, opponents had no problem scoring in the paint or running out in transition.

Jerami Grant’s arrival to Portland was a solid fit alongside Dame. Grant shot a career-best 40 percent from 3 while playing a career-high 35 minutes per game. His defense and impact were felt, but they did not move the needle in a big way.

Anfernee Simons had some really big games and moments. A 20-point quarter is not something you see every day and it’s something that Simons has now pulled off multiple times. He also stepped up in crunch time for the Blazers, nearly matching Dame’s 86 clutch points for the season with 78 of his own.

But that was an area where the Blazers struggled as a team, losing several close games down the stretch. The undersized backcourt of Dame and Simons was all too familiar. Dame and C.J. all over again.

On the positive side, the Blazers did beat the playoff-bound T-Wolves with their C-team. And rookie Shaedon Sharpe looked really good, averaging 23.7 points while shooting 37.8 percent from 3 over the last 10 games of the season. Sharpe can also jump straight out of the gym.

The Blazers are at a definite crossroads to figure out the direction of the franchise from here.

Dame turns 33 this summer and already has a two-year extension that will pay him $59 million in 2025-26 and $63 million in 2026-27. Dame wants to go for it and win now and the Blazers owe him that. But they also have not been able to deliver. Do they have the assets to pull it off this time?

The No. 3 pick in the draft does help immensely.

Sometimes tanking really does pay off.

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Additional Notes

• Call us crazy, but we can never give up on Cam Reddish after seeing the dude drill six 3s in Game 6 of the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals. Kevin Knox had a few moments in the last month as well… Portland has some interesting reclamation projects. Speaking of, Matisse Thybulle showed up to RIP City and shot the ball WAY better than he ever did in Philly. Lord knows the Blazers need his perimeter D.

• It seems like every time that Nassir Little takes a step forward, he takes two steps back with a new injury. Little actually played 8 minutes per game less this season.

• It’s painful to say because of how close he and Dame are, but Nurk seemed like a weak link here this season. He dealt with injuries, yes, but that’s become all too common with him as well. He has not played more than 56 games since 2018-19. (The same season the Blazers went to the Western Conference Finals.)

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

It seems like there is too much uncertainty here. Under 39.5 wins.

Blazers 2022-23 record: (33-49)

Yes indeed! The Blazers actually started 10-4, so a third of the team’s wins occurred in the first month of the season.

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What’s Next?

• Trade the No. 3 pick along with Simons to win now around Dame, or move on from the franchise icon to start a true rebuild around Sharpe, Simons and the No. 3 pick… Or keep everything and try to sow around the edges… Big decisions await. The Blazers do also have the No. 23 pick from the Knicks.

• Find the right defensive-oriented players. Josh Hart and Gary Payton II seemed so ideal, but their time in Portland was quite short-lived.

• Jerami Grant is a free agent and is one of the best on the market, putting the Blazers in a tough spot. Restricted free agents include the reclamation projects of Reddish and Thybulle. Portland has a team option for Kevin Knox.

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Favorite Blazers Highlights of the 2022-23 Season:

ANFERNEE SIMONS 🔥🐜
Caught fire in the 3rd quarter & the Blazers are 4-0!

22 POINTS
6/7 THREES
IN 6 MINUTES

Dame: "It was crazy, like he's blowing the roof off this place.”pic.twitter.com/dY7nOViBoK

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) October 25, 2022

The Anferno. Simons also scored 23 points in the 1st quarter of an early-December game against the Jazz. He went on to score a new career-high 45 points that night.

Relive Dame-Time's historic 71 point performance!

Tune in tonight as Lillard and the Trail Blazers take on the Pelicans at 10:00PM/ET on ESPN! pic.twitter.com/E0LVG2pQ7f

— NBA (@NBA) March 1, 2023

Dame D.O.L.L.A.

Charlotte Hornets

The 2022-23 Charlotte Hornets can be defined as an injury-riddled excursion that never had much of a chance, resulting in the No. 2 pick in the prized 2023 NBA Draft.

What did we learn?

It was always going to be an uphill battle for the Hornets this season.

With LaMelo’s preseason ankle injury that caused him to miss the first three weeks, and with Miles Bridges out of the picture due to his awful off-the-court issues, the Hornets were missing their top-2 scorers from the jump. (Bridges at 20.2 ppg + LaMelo at 20.1 ppg = missing a whopping 40 points per night.)

Charlotte’s offense sputtered out of the gate. An abundant amount of injuries locked the Hornets into the lottery real quick.

At least it was a good season to have a bad season.

Steve Clifford’s big purple dogs never did find their way offensively, posting the worse offensive rating in the league after being top 10 last year.

It always looked decently better when LaMelo was in there, but that was just not very often as he re-injured the same ankle numerous times. There was the fluke play where he stepped on a fan’s foot sitting courtside, and the last time was a full-blown season-ending fracture.

Gordon Hayward actually played 50 games for the first time in a Hornets uniform. He made it to 50 games exactly. The Hornets were 20-30 with Hayward in the lineup and 7-25 without him.

Contract-year P.J. Washington was also a bellwether player for Charlotte. When PJW scored 20+ points, the Hornets went 14-9. In all other games, they went 13-46.

Kelly Oubre averaged the most points of his career at 20.3, but he also missed nearly two months due to surgery to repair a torn ligament in his shooting hand.

The Hornets moved on from Mason Plumlee at the trade deadline, clearing the way (and forcing) Steve Clifford to play lottery-pick rookie Mark Williams more minutes. Mark Williams took advantage, racking up 10 double-doubles post-trade deadline after having just one before.

Terry Rozier’s 3-point shot was off every month save for January. That’s when Rozier turned up, averaging 25 a night alongside LaMelo when Oubre was out.

• Rozier’s 3-point percentage by month:

  • Nov: 28.6

  • Dec: 31.5

  • Jan: 38.0

  • Feb: 29.6

  • March: 31.7

However, Rozier did still average a career-high 21 points and 5 assists per game while playing 35 minutes a night, most of the time as the Hornets’ main scorer and facilitator.

Probably the brightest spot of the Hornets this season was the revitalization of Dennis Smith Jr., who finally found his NBA home back in his home state. DSJ was a big part of the Hornets’ upsets over his former Dallas team, and he showed that he can still throw down some power dunks.

The Hornets deserve credit for playing the role of spoiler at the end of the year. Those two back-to-back wins over the Mavs in late March, which basically ended the Mavs playoff chances, showed that this team still had pride. They still cared about growth. (Thankfully they were already locked into the 4th-worst record, so the wins did not hinder their precious lottery chances.)

The Hornets also rang up 51 points in the first quarter against the Milwaukee Bucks on a random Friday night in early January, setting the franchise record and tying the NBA record! (2019 Warriors.)

As always, Eric Collins was there to bring his unparalleled enthusiasm and energy every night despite all of the losses and bad basketball.

But once again — it really cannot be stressed enough:

It was a good time to be bad.

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Additional Notes

• Nick Richards had some games where Eric Collins could be heard shouting: “This guy has the touch of a masseuse! Velvety soft!”

• Between Kai Jones, James Bouknight and JT Thor, the Hornets could really use a home run draft pick.

• The Hornets chose to keep Cody Martin instead of Heat playoff legend Caleb Martin. Cody Martin played 7 games this entire season while Caleb Martin averaged 19 points in 7 games in the Eastern Conference Finals. That alone paints a pretty good picture of how things have been going in Charlotte.

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

This team is trending downward in a stacked conference. Under 34 wins.

Hornets 2022-23 record: (27-55)

Yes indeed! This one was never in doubt.

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What’s Next?

• The No. 2 pick in the NBA Draft. It’s gotta be Scoot right… Right??? Let it be known that Scoot is the preference of this here blog. Charlotte also has the No. 27 pick (from Denver via New York and OKC from the Jalen Duren trade) and three second-round picks.

• Free agents here include a couple of juniors, Kelly Oubre and Dennis Smith, and a couple of restricted FAs: P.J. Washington and Miles Bridges. (Bridges was sentenced to three years of probation, but the thought of him playing in the NBA again seems like a longshot.)

• Get LaMelo healthy. He’s played 162 games in three seasons. It’s concerning that the injuries keep occurring, especially when also thinking about Lonzo…

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Favorite Hornets Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

KAI JONES WITH THE REVERSE DUNK ft. Eric Collins (sound up 🔊)@242_jones | @drpepper | @HornetsOnBally pic.twitter.com/6hejB0BAhx

— Charlotte Hornets (@hornets) November 21, 2022

Eric Collins later admitted that from his vantage point in Capital One Arena, he thought that Kai Jones went between the legs on this dunk. Either way, his enthusiasm remains unmatched and a national treasure.

San Antonio Spurs

The 2022-23 San Antonio Spurs can be defined by a surprisingly hot start, followed by a tanktastic season that resulted in landing the coveted No. 1 pick.

What did we learn?

The Spurs won the lottery of ALL lotteries and will get Victor Wembanyama.

It’s another stark reminder that history loves to repeat itself as the Spurs tanked for Timmy back in ‘97 and they did so again for Wemby this season.

But that’s not the way the season began. Not even Paycheck Pop could have seen the Spurs 5-2 start coming.

Pop and the Spurs pulled it off by doing what they always do: playing sound team ball, keeping the ball moving and getting everyone involved. But the winning wouldn’t last long.

After starting the season 5-2, the Spurs proceeded to win just one of the next 17 games. Yeah, 1-16 … tank mode ENGAGED.

Over a 26-game stretch from New Year’s Eve to late February, the Spurs won two games. Yeah, 2-24 … TANKTASTIC!

Keldon Johnson struggled with his efficiency (45 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from 3, career-worst numbers) for large portions of the season as defenses were able to key all the way into the Spurs’ 23-year-old No. 1 option. Keldon eventually found his shot, making 44 percent of his 3s in March, and he did still average a career-high 22 points per game.

Devin Vassell made a big leap offensively and had some truly fabulous games, scoring 25+ points eight times this season after never scoring more than 22 points in a game during his first two seasons. But he also dealt with a knee injury that required surgery and missing two months. That was when the Spurs went 2-24 and were toast without him.

Vassell returned to the lineup at the beginning of March, and that’s precisely when the spunky Spurs started surprising people again, including monster wins over the No. 1 Nuggets and the Hawks in Dejounte Murray’s return to San An.

Jeremy Sochan’s hair, defense and rebounding were all as good as advertised. Even better, really. Not even Rodman himself could do a better Rodman impression.

19-year-old rookie Malaki Branham had some eye-popping games toward the end of the season. Not only did he start 32 games for the Spurs, but he had 10 games of 20+ points. Nine of those occurred after the start of February.

Tre Jones played in the most games for the Spurs at 68, and he doubled his career average in points (12.9) and assists (6.6). Jones notched two triple-doubles during the last week of the season, including one against his hometown Minnesota Timberwolves.

In typical Pop fashion, the Spurs finished top 5 in assists per game.

In tanking for Wemby fashion, the Spurs finished with the No. 29 offense and the No. 30 defense, equalling the worst net rating in the league.

In the end, it was all more than worth it as the greatest coach in NBA history is now paired with one of the NBA’s greatest prospects ever.

Just like that, the black and silver are BACK.

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Additional Notes

• Shout out to Zach Collins who played his most games in a season (63) since 2018-19. He also averaged a career-high in almost every statistical category, putting up 11-6-3 in 23 minutes a night.

• Shout out as well to 31-year-old Doug McDermott who shot above 40 percent from 3 for the sixth time in his nine-year career.

• The Spurs were once again sellers at the trade deadline and once again did big-man business with the Raptors. This time it was Jakob Poeltl sent north of the border for a protected 2024 first-round pick and two seconds.

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Did our preseason Over/Under prediction hit?

History loves to repeat itself. Under 23.5 wins.

Spurs 2022-23 record: (22-60)

Yes indeed! History does, in fact, love to repeat itself.

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What’s Next?

• VICTOR WEMBANYAMA. The future is now and the timeline of the Spurs rebuild is accelerated drastically.

• Fill out the roster with some more shooting. The Spurs were bottom-5 in 3-point percentage at 34.5 this season.

• The Spurs do have max cap space available, projected to be around $35 million. Tre Jones is a restricted free agent and Zach Collins has a non-guaranteed deal that could free up more money. San Antonio is sure as hell a more desirable destination all of a sudden.

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Favorite Spurs Highlight of the 2022-23 Season:

Wild Spurs-Mavs sequence 😳

Spurs force OT on a Keldon Johnson alley-oop 🔥 pic.twitter.com/DMiReszxMD

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 16, 2023

The Spurs might have lost in OT, but this was still awesome.