UPSYDE SPORTS PRESENTS

UPSYDE SPORTS PRESENTS:

Overreaction hot takes:

MILES BRIDGES TO WIN MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD - There are a lot of players in the running - Ja Morant, Jordan Poole, Harrison Barnes, OG Anunoby among others. Bridges, however, I feel like has been the most consequential player on his team. LaMelo has obviously looked solid in the early goings, but Bridges as definitely stood out more. With averages of 24.1 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 3.2 APG, 1.8 SPG, 1.0 BPG and 2.9 3PG, with 48/37/87 splits, he's well on his way to a max contract, All-Star consideration, and if Charlotte can secure a top-5 seed in the East, I do not know how they pass him up on this award.

AL HORFORD'S PRODUCTION IS HERE TO STAY - Boston has been really bad, so it's quite possible they are showcasing Horford to move him young assets. The Celtics have yet to win a home game and have a terrible 3-5 start on the season. Horford, however, has had a renaissance averaging 14.0 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.2 SPG, 3.2 BPG, 1.3 3PG, and 45/31/93 splits. He'll probably come back to Earth a little bit, but this has been a torrid start and could be his best defensive season since his prime Atlanta years.

JIMMY BUTLER SHOULD BE IN THE MVP DISCUSSION - He ultimately will probably not win it. He has a lot of competition from guys like Durant, Curry, Joker, Giannis, and maybe Luka at some point, but if the award was today, he needs to be heavily considered. The Heat are the #1 seed in the East, with Jimmy being 11th in scoring, 2nd in steals, and is averaging 25.0 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 5.6 APG with 51/33/89 splits. He has been a pretty inefficient outside shooter while in Miami, but he surrounds himself with good shooters and the addition of Lowry will take a lot of pressure off of him. Don't sleep on Jimmy Buckets.

RAPTORS ARE STILL A TITLE CONTENDER - After a sluggish start, the Raptors are now 6-3 and sitting pretty as the 4-seed in the East. They've done all of this without their best player. They shocked a lot of analysts grabbing Scottie Barnes over Jalen Suggs with the departure of Lowry, yet even still, they have not missed a beat. Barnes is a dark horse for Rookie of the Year. The Raptors have been shooting the rock abysmally, but have made up for it by being 7th in rebounding, 1st in steals, 6th in defensive rating, 6th in net rating, and 1st in offensive rebounding percentage. Their offense should catch up with their defense once Siakam returns, they flip Dragic to fill a need, Gary Trent Jr's shot (career 39% 3-point shooter) starts hitting. They still have excellent coaching and they have assets they can move to improve. 

TIMBERWOLVES NEED TO TEAR IT DOWN - There are several solid suitors for KAT. Teams like OKC with a treasure trove of assets would love to build around an SGA/KAT combination. A team like Boston could really use a guy like D-Lo. Anthony Edwards should be the only untouchable player on this team right now. The Wolves have lost 3-straight and have only made the playoffs one time with KAT, when they had the luxury of Jimmy Butler. They could get amazing trade packages for KAT from several teams - Golden State could trade all of their young assets and reunite the team with Wiggins, OKC could offer Giddey, Poku, Bazley, tons of picks, and absorb his contract, even the 76ers could offer some crazy deal involving Ben Simmons and picks to have an elite front court combination. Regardless of the offer, they have options and their rebuild could be very quick with the right trade package.

-Adam Safianow - NBA Analyst - Upsyde Sports [Copyright 2021]

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