Banter's 2014 UnOfficial Awards

A week ago, I unveiled my picks for the NBA's regular season awards, as usual a little early. I do this (mainly) for two reasons: a) to get the jump on other analysts whose opinions you surely care more about, and b) to avoid letting their logic subconsciously influence my decisions. Maybe I plan this too carefully for someone whose vote doesn't actually count, but according to ESPN's awards forecast pollsters - lots of whom are card-carrying NBA voters - I'm looking decent to go 5 for 6, with the arbitrary Most Improved Player being the lone sure miss.

Most of what I've read suggests Goran Dragic will snag MIP, which doesn't sit well with me. Dragic made a pretty big leap as a scorer this year, but by most numbers, and some general definitions wasn't even the most improved player in his own starting lineup.

Phoenix's season was a huge surprise; a refreshing burst of entertainment in a season when so many teams openly refused to compete (to overstate a point, the Suns were supposed to be one of them). Stellar as Dragic's campaign was, he was far from the only contributor on a team whose (essentially) whole rotation had dramatic career years. And it's also not as though he came out of nowhere.

Dragic should be acknowledged, but he's already a near-lock for an All-NBA nod in a season where a guard-injury epidemic hit perennial candidates Kobe Bryant, Dwyane Wade, Rajon Rondo, Russell Westbrook and Derrick Rose. Handing this award to him is akin to erroneously crowning the best player on the best team MVP, and it's especially tough to single out one player, when Phoenix's improvement was such a team function.

Speaking of seasons that need to be acknowledged (and with that rant off my chest) there was plenty more to celebrate in 2013-14 than the NBA's standard awards can cover, so without further delay, here are Banter's UnOfficial Awards:

Bobby Boucher Award: Al Jefferson
The player whose acquisition to a new team created the greatest positive impact.

Big Al was just an offensive beast this year; there's no way to deny his impact on Charlotte's pretty-unlikely run to the Playoffs, putting up near-career-best numbers for a team who exceeded the general preseason consensus by ~ 15 wins.

There's plenty of blame to go around; the team as a whole gelled nicely under a near-COY first year from Steve Clifford. But after Jefferson shook off his early bum leg, the Hornets relied on his post presence consistently, especially during Kemba Walker's absence. Their inspired refusal to tank is largely his fault.

Regards to: The Phoenix Suns, Dwight Howard, Monta Ellis

Canibus Award: Enes Kanter
The young player who was set to blow up this season, had plenty of opportunity, and didn't really deliver.

Not too much went right in Utah this season, and while the aim wasn't exactly for the Jazz to be "good" per se, part of the motivation for for letting Paul Millsap and the aforementioned Al Jefferson walk away for nothing last summer was to clear room for ^this guy to blossom in the low post.

Didn't quite happen, as Kanter's game developed at a rate far slower than any Mormon had hoped, while his presence in tandem with Derrick Favors was mostly dysfunctional. The Jazz are getting a good Lotto pick and have cap room to spare, but any kind of leap from Enes this year would've been encouraging going forward. (In completely, totally, 100% unrelated news, Kanter may or may not have also been one of my preseason picks for Most Improved Player).

Regards to: Ed Davis, Dion Waiters

Kevin Willis Lifetime Achievement Award: Derek Fisher

The player who demonstrates outstanding devotion to the game, defying most laws of common sense and physics through an utter refusal to retire. 

Fisher took this award home last year, but in a season where Russell Westbrook's injuries gave him unfathomable amounts of floor time, Fisher delivered some witty veteran play, often at key moments for the Thunder. He proved he wasn't a total relic, which the meme to your right more or less indicates.

Regards to: Antawn Jamison, Chauncey Billups, Jermaine O'Neal

Energizer Bunny Award: Joakim Noah
The player who just keeps going, and going, and going, and going...

You know how Drake's just been everywhere with basketball these past few weeks? Annoyingly popping up in every little unexpected corner of a game - courtside, in the locker room, in the ESPN studio, afterparty VIPing, or looming from his perch as the Raptors' Human Mascot - just to remind you how "on it" he is?

That was Noah all year. Dude just didn't stop.He combined perpetual movement with flawless execution; his efforts were both more balanced and focused; he did so much for the Bulls, while never taking plays off. It was a joy to watch, and every bit as irritating as Drizzy for whoever was up against it.

Regards to: Jimmy Butler, Monta Ellis, Blake Griffin

Leon Phelps Award: Andre Drummond
The player who caused the most drama with the ladies this season.

In an era where Social Media has more or less devoured actual social behavior, Drummond made headlines last year with his public Twitter pursuit of teeny-bopper Jennette McCurdy. His hashtag-bred courtship (how romantic.) led to several PDA-heavy dates, continuing to feed the viral frenzy around the young lovebirds. McCurdy even penned a very well-articulated op-ed for the Wall Street Journal on all the commotion.

The two became a highly-topical fodder for both gossip media, and members of the ubiquitous "anything's possible on the Internet" movement.

In a shocking turn of events, this hasty celebrity couple didn't last very long, with McCurdy's midseason revelation that her and Andre only went on a couple of dates, didn't vibe too well, and that a tiny teen actress kissing a 7-foot basketball player is every bit as awkward height-wise as you'd picture.

But of course, it wouldn't be a standard NBA relationship without something like this happening at all-too-perfect a time.

Regards to: Paul George, Raymond Felton, Dante Cunningham

The Earl Manigault Rebound of the Year: Shaun Livingston
The player who - against great odds or obstacles - made the most significant comeback this season.

The injury-ravaged career of Shaun Livingston had mostly been a tragic tale of great potential succumbing to a fragile body. Since 2004, he'd seen seasons of 4, 8, 10 and 26 games, only once playing more than 70.

After yet again appearing in just 17 for the Wiz last year, Livingston landed on the Nets - his seventh team in six seasons - and highly improbably dropped near career-best numbers for a Playoff team, appearing in a personal best 76 games, and having been the first sign of life when Brooklyn bombed out of the gate.

The fact that he's still in the NBA is a testament to his will and toughness; what he showed us this season deserves a nod.

Regards to: Derrick Rose, Kyle Lowry, Channing Frye

Ham of the Year: Andrew Bynum
The player who insulted expectations, his paycheck, and the game of basketball the most through continued dubiousness and a general resemblance to a roasted slab of meat.

I don't like to pick on injured players with this award, but in some cases it's just unavoidable. Especially when said injury was incurred while the player was tossing some ten-pin before he was cleared for activity. Enter this season's Andrew Bynum's Saga:

After spending a year on the bench, becoming an internet sideshow, Bynum's time in Cleveland was marked by disconnected play and enough incredulous stories to fuel a Best of Maury Povich DVD. There were sources claiming he'd slept with a coach's wife, others saying he'd spent an entire team scrimmage launching three-pointers off every touch, and one report went so far as him meeting with then-GM Chris Grant, claiming he didn't want to play basketball anymore.

Slotting an early-termination clause into his deal - allowing them to ditch him mid-season in the somewhat-likely event this were to happen - was the best thing that happened to the Cavs this year, turning the ability to fire Bynum into a trade asset. Indiana doesn't exactly have much to say about his time there.

Regards to: OJ Mayo, Andrea Bargnani, Anthony Bennett

The David Stern Award: Anthony Davis
The player who made the biggest power move this year.

I'm introducing this new award, not only as a needed salute to a legendary builder whom we all owe as fans of the game, but as the UnOfficial Awards' answer to Best Picture, Album of the Year, and Choice Hissy Fit.

The best way to explain my logic for this award is a combination of MVP and MIP; a player has to have escalated significantly, but more or less to or within the NBA's Penthouse (ruling out basically the entire MIP field). Like Stern, he's shown tremendous growth that has registered in the most impactful way.

What Davis showed this season was the makings of an all-around big man eerily reminiscent of Hakeem Olajuwon, who Bill Simmons in The Book of Basketball declared a "kajillionpilliongazillionfrazillionfriggallionmaillion to one" that we'd ever see again. The guy can do pretty much everything right now, and is still 21 (twenty-f***ing-one) and has so much to learn that it's almost unfair what he's capable of. When he pulls it all together consistently, he'll be totally unstoppable.

More or less everyone knew Davis was primed for a leap this year after adjusting to life in the NBA and its learning curve, fully healing his leg, and adding some bulk to his wiry frame. Nobody really saw this kind of casual all-around dominance from The Brow; the kind of season that promises he'll be an MVP someday.

It's really only a matter of how long the LeBron & Durant's Jay-Z/Nas duel carries on. They've got now, but Davis took next very decisively, and doesn't look like he's waiting too patiently.

Regards to: Kevin Durant, Joakim Noah, Blake Griffin 

Congrats to this year's winners (your trophies and Tim Horton's Gift Cards are in the mail). See you all on Saturday for what...? Playoffs.

Banter's 2014 NBA Awards

Last night, the UConn Huskies capped off a ridiculous NCAA Tournament in fittingly historic fashion as the first 7-seed ever to be the Last Team Standing. It was their Spurs-esque 4th title in 15 years (mind-boggling when you think about the leagues of teams vying for it), and equally incredible ways for Shabazz Napier and Kevin Ollie to end, and begin, their Connecticut legacies as player and coach.

Napier put on a very convincing Kemba Walker impersonation, doing seemingly whatever he wanted and coming up with innumerable huge buckets through the Huskies' run. His post-game interview only amplified the resonance. Ollie did an outstanding job of motivating and organizing these young men; keeping their play focused and intense through a series of tough opponents who played varying styles of ball. While Napier gets to move on to a league where he'll see a share of the millions his talents generate, we can only hope the next March Madness hero won't "go to bed starving". Hopefully, the NCAA can look itself in the mirror, and see how their priorities and rules about ensuring the integrity of the collegiate experience are hypocritically defeating themselves, before the game, and its athletes, suffer further.

Back in the big leagues, the regular season's coming down to its final games, which means it's time to gear up the annual debate about who deserves each of the NBA's awards. The competition was pretty thick for most of the trophies this season; a few battles with some decisive lead changes and close outcomes. In a season that where the Impiid for Embiid movement and the critical shittiness of the Eastern Conference were Adam Silver's first burdens to carry (along with that bizarre trip of a Dunk Contest), there was still plenty to applaud, so let's get ahead of ourselves by starting things off, as usual, with the future:

Rookie of the Year - Michael Carter-Williams
Carter-Williams can, to an extent, credit Philadelphia's hyperactive pace with his gaudy numbers that led all NBA freshmen in points, rebounds, assists, and steals, and put his rookie season in the same statistical realm as Magic Johnson's.

There's still plenty about his game that needs improvement for him to hit another level - chiefly his awful shooting from outside ten feet - and at 22, he's kind of old for a rookie in today's NBA. But MCW's rangy skill set and size as a PG are huge advantages for a developing player, and his unlikely outburst made him an easy choice amid a predictably shaky rookie class.

Regards to: Victor Oladipo, Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr

All-Rookie First Team: G-Michael Carter-Williams, G-Victor Oladipo, F-Giannis Antetokounmpo, F-Mason Plumlee, C-Pero Antic

Second Team: G-Trey Burke, G-Tim Hardaway Jr, F-Ben McLemore, F/C-Kelly Olynyk, C-Gorgui Dieng

Most Improved Player: DeAndre Jordan 

This award is usually the toughest to decide, not only because there are so many worthy contenders almost every season, but because of the unavoidable issue of whether a player getting more minutes due to a trade, injury, or new roster void constitutes actual "improvement".

Apologies to Anthony Davis and his sudden legions of bandwagoners, but regardless of how high his NBA stock's risen this year, he shouldn't be the MIP. The Brow's had an incredible season, no doubt, but two things work against him heavily; The first is very quantifiable: many of his per-36 averages are startlingly close to last season, indicating most strongly that he was under-appraised as a rookie, even an injured, undersized one. The second is a little more abstract, but it's pretty safely said that some of the hype around Davis has as much to do with the glimpses he's shown as what he's doing consistently, right now. The skills he flashes are so diverse, polished and casual that they promise something greater; making us forget that he's still pulling it together. The quantum leap in his game we all think we're witnessing hasn't even hit yet.

Meanwhile in L.A. DJ's undergone a complete transformation under Doc Rivers. His defensive awareness, positioning and toughness have all risen considerably. He plays with purpose on offense, able to finish without a perfect Chris Paul lob, and in the presence of a defender. As a result his numbers are up universally (both in advanced metrics and layman's stats); he's almost doubled his rebound and block averages (leading the NBA in rebounds, third in blocks) and is shooting a league-crushing .674 from the field, scoring in double-figures on the year for the first time, ranking 16th overall in Real Plus-Minus.

He hits all the criteria for this award in a big way, not only passing the eye and numbers tests, but improving organically, on a competitive team (which has to count for something), who hung tough through injuries partly because of his new level. The frightening angle is that he still has plenty of improving to do, but this season saw serious strides, for a player who - unlike Davis - didn't seem destined to unlock his potential.

Regards to: Anthony Davis, The Phoenix Suns, Lance Stephenson

Coach of the Year: Jeff Hornacek

A very strong field of worthy contenders put up a fight for the most arbitrary and results-oriented of all the NBA's awards, but ultimately whether Phoenix makes the Playoffs or not, too much went right for them this season.

Think back to November; this team was supposed to be playing for ping-pong balls, perhaps the worst in the West on paper. Hornacek was a stereotype of potential coaching failure; a first-year HC, hired by a franchise he used to star for, and a total rebuild facing his roster, with plenty of new faces and no identity.

Only instead, he pulled a literal Cinderella Story, turning pumpkins into stagecoaches, and his Replacements roster into a serious threat, running an imaginatively deadly four-out offensive scheme. He spaced the floor beautifully and took advantage of his shooting bigs, with their ability to move on D allowing them to "small ball" like few other squads.

Once teams realized Phoenix was for real and began game-planning for them, their second-best player conveniently got injured for three months, and the Suns still stayed competitive in the ultra-tough West. Bledsoe's injury is the only thing keeping him from joining three teammates (Miles Plumlee, Goran Dragic, Gerald Green) in the Most Improved Player race, and a fourth (Markieff Morris) who's sure to get some Sixth Man love.

Every player in the Suns' rotation (with the exception of Channing Frye; their elder statesman who missed last season with a heart condition) is having a career year, and that kind of dramatic, consistent improvement is indicative of a coach who not only connects with players very well, but is good at developing skills, and smart enough to employ them optimally on the court. Hornacek's done all that this season which, remember, is only his first. Get Horny.

Regards to: Gregg Popovich, Tom Thibodeau, Terry Stotts

Sixth Man of the Year: Taj Gibson

It seems ridiculous that he's somehow still eligible for this award (what with all the cost-cutting in Chicago and Carlos Boozer not having been amnestied), but in a season where scrappy defensive effectiveness defined the Bulls, Gibson's impact has been huge.

His diverse, disruptive athleticism was invaluable to the Bulls' stalwart D, and averaging an impressive 13ppg off the bench for the NBA's most offensively-challenged team. Those of you who checked out the Real Plus-Minus link above know that Gibson's rated higher overall than Russell Westbrook, James Harden, Blake Griffin, Chris Bosh and Dwight Howard.

The race between Gibson and stone-etched contender Manu Ginobili is very close, but Taj logs 126% of Manu's minutes every night, and hasn't missed a game all year. The Spurs were the epitome of balance and chemistry this season (Spoiler Alert: the NBA's best record has nobody on my All-NBA Teams this year). The Bulls had absolutely no business being this competitive this year, and Gibson's one of the two biggest contributors (leading us to...)

Regards to: Manu Ginobili, Anderson Varejao, Jamal Crawford

Defensive Player of the Year: Joakim Noah
"The idea is not to block every shot. The idea is to make your opponent believe that you might block every shot". - Bill Russell


A small part of me is doing this because I gave Noah this award last year, and now he's belatedly getting hype and credit across the league because of the Bulls' unexpected success. A much larger part of me believes his intensity - either deeply irritating or endearing depending on who you're rooting for - has only become more valuable as he's matured and improved his awareness, making him that much more deserving.

He's a truly unique player; a mental game master who not only plays with a high IQ but knows how to get under opponents' skin painfully well, housed by a long, athletic and quick body, fueled by an F-1 engine on overdrive. Nobody in the NBA does more to constantly disrupt the flow of an opponent's offense in a variety of ways. He can body big centers, move with smaller ones, cover help in the air or on the dribble (and switch back faster than just about anyone), and even step onto the perimeter, contest shots and slow down bigger slashers. He's everywhere.

It's an all-around nightmare of a defensive presence; one that constantly looms: "I'm going to make your life hell for 35 minutes tonight. You're going to be very annoyed no matter what you do. Be afraid". And he's good enough to instill that fear.

Regards to: Roy Hibbert, Patrick Beverley, Serge Ibaka

All-D First Team: G-Chris Paul, G-Patrick Beverley, F-Serge Ibaka, F-Anthony Davis, C-Joakim Noah 

Second Team: G-Kyle Lowry, G-Mike Conley, F-Kawhi Leonard, F-LeBron James, C-Roy Hibbert


Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant
The King is Dead! Or at least his death-grip on the MVP trophy has been thawed.

LeBron didn't exactly lose the MVP race this year; he played at absurdly efficient, superb levels for a team that almost took for granted his ability to "do everything", relying on him more and more, especially in Dwyane Wade's absence. He put up a valiant defense.

There was just no denying Durant this season. Not with the NBA Jam numbers he put up redundantly, and the way he lifted OKC from preseason doubts, through two Russell Westbrook injuries, to a strong Playoff footing. Again, in the West. It's been said a million times but bears repeating; the gap in depth between the two Conferences was immeasurable this year, and made being elite that much harder, making Durant's Man On Fire act that much more impressive.

LeBron could be the best NBA player ever, but square in his prime, he wasn't the best NBA player this season.

Regards to: LeBron James, Blake Griffin, Joakim Noah

All-NBA First Team: G-Chris Paul, G-Stephen Curry, F- LeBron James, F- Kevin Durant, C- Joakim Noah

Second Team: G-Goran Dragic, G-James Harden, F-Blake Griffin, F-LaMarcus Aldridge, C-Dwight Howard

Third Team: G-John Wall, G-Kyle Lowry, F-Dirk Nowitzki, F-Kevin Love, C-Al Jefferson

Grading Day

Last October, I rolled out nine predictions for 2013-14, ranking them based on an arbitrary mix of boldness and importance to the overall scheme of the NBA. My plan was to review them sometime late in the season, and see how each turned out. The campaign's winding down to single-digit-games for half the Association, and since most of these predictions had nothing to do with the Playoffs, I'm turning back time, looking through hindsight's lens, and assigning grades to each one. Where's the DeLorean...

"9. The '73 Sixers are safe"

There was plenty of buzz in the preseason about just how bad some of this season's write-offs could be, and whether any of them would challenge the single-season mark for futility. The prevailing logic seemed to be "so many of these teams look awful, odds are one might be that bad" and not "so many of these teams look awful, and they're all going to play each other enough".

I figured it wasn't much of a stretch that a widening gap between the top and bottom of the League - combined with so much tanking - would make for many more winnable games between two weak opponents. Enough that the worst single-season record would be more than safe.

It played out somewhat predictably; even with this season's incarnation of the Sixers recently putting on a memorable nose-dive to challenge Milwaukee for the Undisputed World Tanking Champion status, there were simply too many other bad teams for any of this season's hackjob rosters to register historically, or even realistically challenge. This was a pretty safe call, so I won't pat myself on the back too much for it.

Grade: B+

"8. D-Rose won't miss a step"

This one went horribly awry, no two ways about it. In October, all indications pointed to Rose reminding everyone just how good he was. He had just spent a full year-plus recovering from his knee injury, and was talking the same confident game he did prior to his MVP season. "I'm faster". "I can jump higher". "My mom can get it". He seemed like he was taking no prisoners, and had forced us to take his talk seriously.

Unfortunately for Bulls fans, Heat haters, and this prediction, Chi-Town's favorite son was barely starting to knock the rust off after ten games, before going down again and seemingly taking his team's season with him. In a twist that should be surprising us less and less, Tom Thibodeau (the Gregg Popovich to Adam Silver's David Stern) milked 150% out of his roster, and the Bulls wound up doing better without Rose, even after salary-dumping Luol Deng.

This result was somewhat of a fluke overall, especially with Rose injuring his other knee, but even the tiny glimpse we caught of him was far from the player we all remembered. I'll be less presumptuous about his next comeback; he might be too.

Grade: D-


"7. Joe Dumars will seal his coffin"

I've spent a few years feeling very bad for Pistons fans. Basically ever since Joe Dumars traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson and forced us all to wonder if the Darko pick wasn't a one-off aberration.

In the years since, Joey D's been one of the worst GMs in the NBA, botching trades and signings left-right-and-center, while his pedigree as a legendary player and architect of the '04 title team have bought him rope within the franchise and clouded judgement of the Motor City faithful.

I saw his latest rebuild attempt as a textbook mismatch of talent that wouldn't live up to expectations, and bashed the Josh Smith (and to a lesser extent Brandon Jennings) signings, but even my negative outlook for the Pistons couldn't compare to the turd of a season they put together.

Missing the Playoffs in maybe the weakest Conference ever, notching the season's only coach firing to date (hold that thought) and submitting a very strong bid for this year's Unintentional Hilarity Award. With the internet's proliferation allowing fans to be heard more, they've slowly joined a growing number of analysts in scrutinizing Dumars, but he runs deep with the Pistons, he'll be tough to uproot.

Grade: B+

"6. There will be a record-low number of coach firings"

This one could've gone either way.

Mo Cheeks was the only bench boss to be axed when the situation in Detroit became comically bad, but several others could've easily bowed out. Mike Woodson somehow survived New York's biggest disaster outside a generic blockbuster movie. Larry Drew didn't take the fall when Milwaukee accidentally tanked. The Cavs haven't realized how much Mike Brown's part of their problem, Jason Kidd turned the Nets around to dodge Prokhorov's hit squad, and it's only a matter of time with Ty Corbin.

Any number of things going slightly the other way could've blown this one for me, but getting through a whole season with just one coach losing his job is a total outlier in today's NBA, and when a team can blatantly lose 26 games in a row without a murmur of firings, it's not total coincidence.

Grade: A

"5. The Cavs will begin The Redemption"

Oops.

Looking back on it, I should've seen the signs. Mike Brown. Andrew Bynum. The Cavs with any kind of debatable lottery selection.

My optimism here was based around Kyrie Irving hitting another level (didn't happen), Dion Waiters adjusting as an off-the-ball scorer (unlikely, especially in a Mike Brown offense), and getting anything out of Bynum (statistically less likely this year than him messing around with a coach's wife).

They turned the Bynum Tax Credit into an All-Star (Luol Deng) and will probably have to watch him walk away in the summer, left with another void to fill on a sketchy roster, with a horribly overrated coach, and possibly-insane owner whose regime is beginning to look very shaky.

And I haven't even gotten to Anthony Bennett yet...

Grade: D-

"4. OKC will make a big move; It will be questionable"

Quite a few things went against me here, negating the need for OKC to even consider making moves:

- First, the Thunder were much better at team defense than I figured them to be with so many new, young bodies,

increased doses of Derek Fisher, and Kendrick Perkins getting more and more obsolete. I thought they'd slide noticeably and it just hasn't been the case.

- Jeremy Lamb and Steven Adams were two complete question marks coming into this season; both have become solid role players who've fit well within what the Thunder need: a rangy defender who can space the floor, and a center who isn't Kendrick Perkins. Hardly enough to make up the margin between five years of James Harden and eight months of Kevin Martin, but hey, who's counting?

- Reggie Jackson made the leap from "guy who put up an inspiring late-season run" to "landslide 6MOY winner if Westbrook stayed healthy"; instant energy and offense, solving the "who will take pressure off Durant?" query with no hesitation.

- And then Durant spent most of the season in Doom Mode, taking his transcendent game to yet another level.

As a result, the Thunder have looked like a top-two team in the West, even through Russ' injuries. As it played, the season couldn't have gone much smoother for them, which crushes this prediction's "trade", even there's still a decent chance Presti could've botched it.

Grade: D-

"3. The Knicks will completely implode"

We've all heard enough about this.

Grade: A+

"2. The Clippers will have the West's best record (and worst Alternate Jersey)"

The jerseys were a close call; so many total eye-sores. The sleeves movement was an awkward shift that the NBA's thankfully moving to ditch, which is great news for everyone, especially the Clippers and their powder-blue pyjamas.

The "best record" part, was a little further off. San Antonio has the West's top seed locked up, but L.A. is still tight with OKC for the 2-spot, having battled numerous injuries all season, especially their biggest new addition (JJ Redick). The immense upgrade from Vinny D to Doc Rivers has done wonders for this team, especially their defensive cohesion and both Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan taking their games to the next level. At full strength, many are giving them credit as strong West contenders.

Injuries are part of the game, so it's hard to use them as a crutch when this whole process is pretty results-oriented, and the Spurs and Thunder weren't exactly models of health this year. The Clippers could've taken the top seed at full strength, but close, no cigar.

Grade: B-

"1. The Heat will Three-Peat"

My #1 prediction was pretty cliché, but I felt it had the right mix of importance and uncertainty to be a pretty standard slot-in. It's also (obviously) incomplete, but based on what we know right now, doesn't look totally awful.

Miami's hit a relative lull at a bad time, but still has three weeks until the Playoffs to flip what we all know is the most automatic "switch" of any team in the NBA. Fortunately for them, the Pacers are in the midst of a meltdown, have surrendered the #1 seed, and are raising their first serious doubts all season, in a drastic way, at a really bad time. Concurrently, the rest of the East - despite revivals from Chicago and Brooklyn, and the deserved optimism in Toronto - just can't challenge the Heat, rested, with D-Wade, in a Playoff series. There's no way.

The picture is far murkier out West, where any number of teams can cause serious problems, and the battle will be infinitely more competitive: More games will be hard-fought and go into overtime. More series will be stretched the distance. More players will have to exert themselves to the Nth degree, risking injury and exhaustion just to survive 'til the next round.

The West is the far better Conference, but that's to its severe detriment in this year's title race. Miami faces a soft schedule, will play fewer games, and spend plenty of time resting (especially Wade) while waiting for the West schedule to catch up as its teams beat on each other. The Playoff landscape couldn't look much better for them right now.

That said, whatever team comes out of the West, besides being well-tested, is obviously going to be very, very good. Miami played poorly almost too often last spring, catching several lucky breaks to prevail in what was likely the tightest NBA Finals ever. If they're not playing a notch above consistently this year, I don't like their chances too much.

Grade: an incomplete B

Overall, I averaged out to a B-, not incredible, but not Eastern Conference-caliber either. My 3-Peat prediction could do me some favors, but I'm not entirely confident in this Miami team down the stretch of an intense Finals (under the assumption they get there). There's a lot riding on a supporting cast that just hasn't looked as sharp this year, and the load LeBron's had to carry (especially with Wade sitting so often) worries me.

Only time will tell, but before it does, we have some trophies to hand out, so check for the 2014 Banter Awards next week...

The Last Place Penalty

I got on the Shameless bandwagon this week; binge-watching the first season after more than a few friends recommended it, and I did my standard procrastinating. It's turned out to be clever, and hilarious so far.

I bring this up out of irony because there's something clever, hilarious, and ultimately shameless going on in the NBA right now. As if there were much doubt I'm talking about Tank-a-Thon, Riggin' for Wiggins, Impiid for Embiid, the Royal Fumble, or whatever other name you want to give the backwards race that's consumed so much of the Association.

The Sixers just reeled off 26 straight losses as a means to an end - catching up to Milwaukee (a team who was "supposed to compete" this year) and maximizing their equity in this year's lottery. It made headlines for all the wrong reasons, and drummed up plenty of media scrutiny, but the Sixers can't really be held to blame. Their season is merely indicative of a much larger problem; one that's run rampant amid the mainstream sport most driven by individual talent.

There's two sides to this issue, both legitimate gripes: One being that the NBA places too strong an incentive for front offices to engage in "tanking"; wasting their fans' money and time to get a stronger footing to - as they're paid to do anyways - put a winning team together.

The other is that it's never been easy for small-market teams to attract elite talent, a truth that recent trends suggest may only get worse for teams like the Bobcats, Jazz and Cavaliers. And in the interest of overall competitive parity, it's good that teams who, in theory, perform the worst and attract the least talent, have a means to level the field (by getting their choice of the best new players).

A dilemma's been created by conflicting interests; the NBA is sabotaging itself by either providing too little help for struggling teams (one of the many flaws of the "Draft Wheel" proposal) or, as they have now, fostering a system where losses are assets. Philadelphia's one of several franchises actively behaving counter-productively because league conditions have almost engineered it, the Sixers are just following an unfortunate trend and doing it better than everyone else.

A solution that's far from perfect, but makes more sense than the Wheel's convoluted selection schedule (seriously, the NBA has had enough of The Wheel, no need for another one), may be as simple as one commonly found in fantasy basketball: the Last Place Penalty.

Anyone who's ever played fantasy sports knows how easily a league can be wrecked by managers who abandon a season after combinations of injuries, poor strategy, and lack of interest sabotage their chances of winning. At some point, the person running the team figures the time they'd invest in managing rotations, making trades, paying attention to the wire, etc would be better spent, you know, actually doing stuff, since they can't win anyway.

Many people agree that this ruins the overall quality of a league, much in same way that tanking ruins the NBA's overall product. So, most competitive fantasy leagues feature a "Last Place Penalty"; managers will ante-up extra at the beginning of the year (usually 2x the league's buy-in), covering both their entry and the L.P.P (sort of like your damage deposit on a hotel room). At the end of the season, the league's commissioner refunds the penalty sum to everyone but whoever finishes last, with that money either added to the prize pool or broken up among the other teams.

This (in most cases) incentivizes fantasy managers to not totally throw seasons, and at least try to keep pace with everyone else, promoting season-long competition, especially in head-to-head leagues. By now you see where this is going; if the NBA's current Lottery system operated on these terms, the last place team would be paying no penalty, and getting a larger rebate than anyone else.

A pretty simple way to discourage teams from openly bombing as they have this year, while still giving relief to those that need it through the Draft, would be to incorporate the Last Place Penalty into the Lottery system. This would make teams at least think twice before pulling the chute on a season, and guarantee they wouldn't be as eager to slide in the standings.

The penalty could be anything; maybe the last place team automatically gets the 14th pick. Maybe they're levied a heavy fine, lose their mid-level exception that summer, or have to hire Mike Brown. Anything that outweighs the margin between a 20 and 25% chance at the first overall pick, and prevents careless abandon as a means of strategic improvement. It's one way to at least raise the bar somewhere acceptable, to where the NBA isn't being tarnished as easily as your Yahoo! league.

The Sixers have stumbled awkwardly through most of this season, Shameless-ly, like a waste-cased Frank Gallagher after a bender at the Alibi. Also like Frank, they'll be getting their disability check at the end of the month, and the system's going to keep getting worked until a change is made.

Top 9s: The Tank Brigade

Welcome to the Tank Brigade; where the race for professional basketball's worst record is heating up.

Tanking has never been trendier; a shift induced not only by the massive talent pool in next year's Draft, but by a dynamic historical precedent. Not only does it (with very rare exception) take elite talent to win an NBA title - we're talking at least one bonafide Top-10 guy - but with stars aligning in big cities and taking salary cuts to help their teams dodge the cap, it's never been harder for small market/less established teams to land the best players.

The mentality that competing for a low Playoff spot is the League's worst position has never been so prevalent, leading most teams to shoot for the stars, or lie down in the dirt. While the likes of the Thunder and Pacers battle for the Association's best record, there's a more subtle fight in full force. One for the best odds in a gamble to determine a complete gutterball of a season's ultimate worth.

The very worst team stands only a 1 in 4 chance of landing the top pick on a record-based scale, and even a loaded Draft class like the one upon us can have its busts.The Lottery is still very much a gamble. This is degeneracy at its highest stakes; snuffing seasons and making fans wait on a relative dice roll. In a league where owners spent a lockout griping about "competitive parity" just over two years ago.

Some franchises are more or less banking on a lottery miracle, while others have set themselves up nicely for whatever they net in this Draft to join a promising foundation; stockpiling other assets and clearing cap space.

So here are the NBA's Nine worst teams as of today, ranked from worst to first in order of how well they've managed through this whole "Tanking" thing:

9. New York Knicks
Woops.

So this season hasn't been great for the Knicks; the kind that's swiftly gone from alarming, to laughable, to downright tragic.

Their presence here is dubious for any number of reasons, from their Playoff ambitions and gaudy payroll, to the future picks they stupidly dealt, crippling their rebuilding effort. The Knicks will have no first-round pick this season, or in 2016; saved by the Stepien Rule from burying themselves deeper.

They've also traded a slew of second-rounders, to make sage, competitively-priced acquisitions like Andrea Bargnani. This was a total dud of the contract that the Raptors were just praying to unload on some GM who, like most of America, had mostly ignored them and didn't know just how bad Bargs was. Then along comes New York, offering to give them three draft picks, along with cheaper, shorter-term deals, to take him off their hands.

They literally yanked their own safety net before nose-diving down the East standings, and now face an offseason of many questions, with no idea where to begin on an answer.

8. New Orleans Pelicans 
The Pels bought up their own stock prematurely, and currently owning the NBA's second-longest losing streak, are cruising towards an early summer, likely with no redemption in sight.

Like the Knicks, they mortgaged their Lottery equity for current assets, figuring their team to be better and the pick much lower. Sure enough, as soon as you could say "Point Guard Injury Epidemic" and "Tyreke Evans was a waste of money", the Pelicans tilted the scales of the Jrue Holiday deal heavily.

Unless they luck out and land in the top-5, Philly will get the Pels' first-rounder, ironically in exchange for the very player whose absence (along with Ryan Anderson) made this pick become so attractive.

So far, we've learned that Tanking is mostly sub-optimal strategy when you've given away your Draft picks and are among the worst teams by accident.


7. Sacramento Kings
That so much of Sacramento's next season lies in Rudy Gay's $19million player option is a mildly terrifying predicament, especially for a rebuilding team that gave up a bunch of expiring deals for him.

Working in their favor is that Gay has been playing arguably the best ball of his career, able to dominate the rock and shoot with no conscience on a team with low expectations. This might lean him towards putting himself on the market now while his stock's high; locking up another deal before he's dealt to a stricter team ('Rudy Gay's Expiring Contract' would be the most-floated piece in trade rumors next year) and his shot selection becomes an international punchline again.

With Boogie beasting, and a reasonable cap scenario long-term, this could be a solid team in a few years if the pieces come together properly, but so far the movement under new owner Vivek Ranadive has been mostly lateral.

6. Utah Jazz
The Jazz have done an outstanding job of clearing cap room and producing a 2013-14 on-court product that would surely suck enough to get a high Lotto pick.

The problem for them is they may have done it too well.

This team has few attractive pieces, with Enes Kanter, and to a lesser extent Derrick Favors, failing to make much of a leap in their expanded roles, and meshing poorly together as a tandem. Trey Burke will remain, as will Gordon Hayward (for a year, at least) but it's hardly enough to convince the kind of talent Utah's banking on to come spend most of their year in a trendy, must-visit NBA locale like Salt Lake City.

I'm predicting a Jazz offseason that exemplifies why not all cap space is created equal, and leaves them short on the Free Agent Haul.

5. Boston Celtics
The Celtics' season has been somewhat confounding. The two apparent objectives this year were: 1) Trade Rajon Rondo, and 2) Lose as many games as possible. The former didn't happen, and the latter only did after a counter-productively hot start under Brad Stevens.

The good news is that Stevens was an ace hire, and that several Celtics pieces - most notably Jared Sullinger - have seen a spike in value, both to the team and on the trade market. The bad news is that they still have to pay Gerald Wallace $20million over the next two years, and the continuing Rondo uncertainty makes their future very hard to define.

4. L.A. Lakers

The Lakers' range of possibilities for next season is extremely wide:

They currently have over half their cap next year (roughly $35million) invested in two guys who've each played less than ten games this year. That said, the latest round of Steve Nash retirement rumors seem more well-founded than in the past, possibly shaving $10m off the tab.

Since a very large chunk of their roster is off the books this summer, the Lakers (if Nash does hang 'em up) could have safely over $30million in cap space, along with a decent-at-worst Lottery pick.

How all that potential comes together is obviously a tricky variable; TinselTown has always been a favorite destination for big names, but there's no telling just how willing Player X will be to team with Kobe or commit to a rebuild.

With such a large window, the Lakers are sure to come back reloaded, but they only have to rewind their franchise one year to see how throwing a bunch of talent together can be an unmitigated disaster.

3. Milwaukee Bucks
John Hammond is a genius.

I don't say this in any facetious regard; I really think the guy's a mastermind. Last summer, the Bucks were staring an obvious rebuild in the face, with senile owner Herb Kohl demanding that the team stay "competitive" (read: pick in the late Lottery or get swept by Indiana/Miami).

Instead of condemning them to middling mediocrity, Hammond had a plan; he knew his owner was being an idiot, but he didn't want to get himself fired. So he went about his mandate under the appearance of legitimacy, inking deals and making trades that seemed aimed at the short-term, but weren't making Milwaukee any better . He even coerced sports' trendiest website into exaggerating his team's worth in their season preview.

Then when the curtains came up, the Bucks confirmed everyone's suspicions that they couldn't score. At all. Hammond then hired local goons to provoke new-signed defensive backbone Larry Sanders into injuring himself in a drunken nightclub meltdown. As a result, they own the NBA's worst record (/best Lottery odds), two promising prospects in John Henson and Giannis Antetokounmpo (it's his name, get over it), and little long-term financial commitment.

2. Orlando Magic
Few teams made being bad look as easy this season as the Magic, who have a bottom-3 record in the East and plenty going in their favor:

- they have two legitimate foundation pieces (Nik & Vic); they're the only serious tankers who can say that.

- their whole team is bathing in upside; a roster to which they'll add a potential stud in late June

- they have oodles of cap space, and play in Orlando, which between the sunshine, Disney World, and the lack of state income tax, is relatively prime Free Agent real estate


All added up, this should be a pretty quick turnaround for the Magic, which after Dwight Howard hijacked their franchise for 18 months, should come as comfort to their fans.

1. Philadelphia 76ers
THIS is how you suck. The Sixers have by far the largest pot of gold of at the end of this season's shit-rainbow.

First they snaked likely future-All Star Michael Carter-Williams late in last year's Lottery and had him miss a convenient amount of games. They'll get continued growth moving forward from a guy nobody thought would be this good. Then they whittled their payroll down to the bare bones; with somewhere between 17-32million on tap for next year, they'll be the least-constricted team in this summer's spending spree. All the while, losing almost methodically by playing a frenetic pace with a D-League roster.

The plot thickens with the oncoming arrival of potentially game-changing defensive center Nerlens Noel, along with (and here's the best part) not one, but two Lotto picks from the much-ogled 2014 Class. Not only do the 76ers have their own selection, but that of the Pelicans in the highly likely event it lands outside the Top 5.

After the Bynum disaster, the floor fell out beneath the Sixers quickly, but this team has enough going for it beyond this season that they'll likely wind up reaping the greatest spoils of the Tank Brigade.

Throwback Thursday: The Dennis Rodman Experience

Basketball Banter just celebrated its 5th birthday and the party was off the hook! Kendrick Lamar performed, Kendrick Perkins hosted, and all sorts of NBA stars came out to show love.

In all seriousness though, much love and appreciation to everyone who's supported this blog over the years; whether it's those who've helped me with connections, helped me build my reach by sharing social media content, and especially those who've bantered about basketball, both in online and in person. I started doing this with provoking thought and discussion among both casual and hardcore NBA fans in mind, and it's always great to hear I've been able to do that. Profound thanks.

Since it is Thursday and all, I'm gonna go diggin' in the crates to share my favorite piece from these past five years with you guys: an up-close-and-far-too-personal encounter with NBA and Annals of Celebrity Antics legend Dennis Rodman.

This piece went up in February 2009; Banter was less than a month old, and for anyone who may have missed or forgotten, it was a totally surreal experience that should be taken in. I can still remember writing this in the back of class the following morning; completely aghast in awe as I zoned out my prof, trying to come to grips with just what the hell I'd seen. I'd braced myself for something inappropriate, but clearly not well enough.

So, without further rambling, I'll pass the mic (aka the cut/paste function) to my 21-year-old self, and let him tell you about the night Dennis the Menace came to town:

I work for a Halifax-based catering company that regularly puts on massive charity dinners at their multi-purpose facility, which are usually headlined by celebrity guests of honor. Over the past couple of months, I've been fortunate enough to catch many great acts on the company dollar; the hilarious Jerry Seinfeld, the inspirational Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, and most recently, the incoherent ramblings of Dennis Rodman.

The event in question was for the Progress Club, a community outreach and support organization that holds an annual sports dinner, attracting upwards of 1,000 people. Among the other celebrity guests last night were NFL and NHL Hall-of-Famers Jim Kelly and Bryan Trottier, Olympic gold medalist Adam Van Koeverden, and of course Rodman, who were escorted prominently to the head table by Las Vegas-style showgirls. Dennis refused to walk with his girl, insisting that she strut several feet in front of him while he staggered behind (giving the first of many indications that he was highly inebriated), not-so-discretely staring at her ass. Having been an NBA fan for years, and well-versed in Rodman's antics, I could've predicted such things, but from the looks on the faces of hundreds of wealthy socialites in the audience, they clearly had no clue what they were in for. In retrospect, neither did I.

As the event carried on, the guests of honor got up one-by-one to address the audience. There were stories of Stanley Cup victories and Olympic triumph, overcoming adversity and seizing the moment; the usual stuff you'd expect from celebrities at a charity dinner. A few jokes were told, a few jabs made at fellow guests; it was light-hearted fun... And then came Hurricane Dennis, a storm which I stood in the eye of, ten feet away from the stage.

Everybody before him had a general tenor to their words, clearly a few things prepared and a message for the audience. Rodman, heavily bent on Sambucca and God knows what else, clearly had no idea what he was embarking upon when he drew the largest applause of the evening as he was introduced. When the raucous noise finally came to a halt, leaving a massive room in complete silence, some drunk dude in the audience yells out "I loved you in Double Team!". Whoever this guy is, he's clearly the early favorite for Man of the Year.

The Worm's speech began with an unceremonious bashing of the event's host (...and this was after a woman loudly asked him if he was "available later on"). TSN analyst Rod Black had begun the evening with an admittedly kinda corny cheering activity to amp up the crowd. "That was total bullshit", Rodman said laughing, which was followed with "...Nah, nah, I'm just playin' man, whatever your name is". He then turned to Van Koeverden, a kayaker, and referring to him as "the guy with the boat", gave him extended praise for...well..I'm not really sure what. These were the first signs of an incoherence that was about to take full form.

When it became obvious that Dennis was completely out to lunch and had no material to work with, Black intervened and asked him to tell a story, presumably something about playing with Michael Jordan, battling the World's biggest athletes as an undersized post player, or winning any of his five titles. With little hesitation, Rodman launched into a graphic re-creation of the previous night at a Newark airport bar, where a woman had propositioned to let him "fuck her while her boyfriend watched". Astounded and disgusted, there were a few laughs from the drunker audience members, while most sat jaws-dropped in the largest collective awkward silence you'll ever not hear...but it kept coming.

Black dug a little deeper: "Well tell us a story about the craziest thing you've ever done on the basketball court"...I immediately envision him saying something like "Well...this one time a referee was giving me lip, so I headbutted him" or "I chased a loose ball out of bounds and tripped over a cameraman many years ago...I decided it was a good idea to kick him in his junk", but he immediately comes out with "When I was with Carmen Electra...I did her on a basketball court...on her back. True Story". Unreal.

As his speech gradually lost its grip on coherent English, Rodman got into a story that began as his tale of upbringing in an empoverished neighborhood ("one thing we didn't have in the ghetto that alllllllll you people here always had growing up was opportunity"), delved into a revival of black/white tension in 60's southern US ("I was like wow...watching these white people coming through the neighborhood...blacks were beating on them, killing them..and today nothing's changed") and led to his legal troubles ("..I was a janitor at the airport...I stole like 50 grand worth of watches"), which allegedly helped him find basketball as salvation.

Before he got his act together and turned pro though, his mother abandoned him, leaving him unemployed and resourceless for a year ("I went to pack my bags...well, I had no fuckin' bags to pack"). He loses his composure and sheds a few tears as he tells the audience about the $20 and "get a job" note she left him as she ran off with her fiance. Even amid the hilarity and ridiculousness of what I've witnessed so far, my face goes stone-cold and my heart rattles. It's impossible not to feel for this man, who despite his immense celebrity has clearly led a troubled and turbulent life, understandably shaken 30 years later by those events. After this meltdown, Rodman loses all focus and breaks out into racially-charged rant, apparently about how he met the family that now runs his company. I'm sure he meant it as a touching tale of how inter-ethnic relations have grown over the years, but the intent is lost in translation as he drops the phrases "big, tall n*****" and "little white kid" no fewer than twenty times, swearing profusely and stammering repeatedly, before Black finally intercedes and cuts him off after 15 minutes of this tirade. He returns to his seat amid hesitant applause and the most "...what the hell did I just witness" grimaces since Michael Richards' last stand-up gig.

I don't really know what to make of it either. As I sit here the next day, still trying to wrap my head around the spectacle, I'm astonished by how deliriously inappropriate Rodman was, even having known he's never done anything PG-rated to speak of. Seeing the state he was in last night saddened me; here was pound-for-pound the greatest rebounder and defender ever to step on a basketball court beyond buzzin' and acting like he was with a few close friends rather than 1300 upper-classmen who weren't on the same wavelength. It was unfortunate, surreal; one of the most ridiculous things I've ever experienced. Being there was really beyond what words can describe, but hopefully I did a decent job.

Putting the "Dead" in Deadline

The Trade Deadline came and went last week; a date that had built up with blockbuster potential for months "climaxed" dully with the seemingly inevitable dumping of Danny Granger's contract.

Despite an army of franchises actively shopping attractive assets, and others seeking to shake things up, the market may have over-played itself. Many teams' asking prices were reportedly too high, leaving most parties at the trade table favoring the upcoming loaded Draft and Free Agent classes to make their moves.

So what now for the teams that seemed destined to make moves, but hesitated to pull the trigger? Were they wise in waiting? What can they expect going forward? Let's see which GMs have screwed themselves, and which should come out on top:

Boston Celtics 
Rajon Rondo still being a Celtic is among the more bizarre aftermath of the Deadline, with Danny Ainge suddenly holding onto a guy he'd been shopping for years, at what seemed like the most logical time to finally deal him.

The irony of Ainge's decision gets diluted when you consider that Rondo's actually a very good fit for a young team searching for its identity through a re-build, as a versatile cog for a smart coach who's a whiz with quirky lineups. Keeping him can't be an awful decision; he's a Top 15-ish player, just turned 28, and his market value could rise if Boston suddenly seems less keen on dumping him.

It's one of those hands that's hard to misplay; Boston might not have liked offers that came their way, but being left to rebuild with one of the NBA's best point guards isn't a Saw game, which Ainge may be realizing.

Toronto Raptors
Few GMs in pro sports history have developed reputations as movers and shakers as quickly and astutely as Ujiri. After ousting the Raptors' two ugliest contracts in moves that showed immediate + returns, Masai was rumored to be in talks around a deal for Kyle Lowry for most of this season.

Masai's inability to move Lowry is a minor disappointment, but hardly a fatal wound for Toronto. The reality is that Lowry's trade value has never been this high, and likely never will be again, so unless he's their point guard going forward, the time to bail was now. His superb play this season will absolutely earn him more money next year, and it's unclear if he'll be as fit and motivated with his new deal locked up.

Masai's track record might even be hurting his cause, with at least one (confirmed) case of a team unwilling to be "fleeced" by him again. Regardless, few people in NBA front offices - likely only Daryl Morey - understand trading assets like Ujiri, and with virtually every player in Toronto's rotation playing up their own stock this year, he'll have nice pieces to work with, even if Lowry is signs elsewhere.

Houston Rockets
Speaking of Daryl Morey, his own shrewdness has come back to bite him in the ass.

Two years ago, Morey snaked the criminally under-utilized Omer Asik from the Bulls with a "poison pill" contract that saw his originally meager salary triple in its upcoming final year.

In the meantime, Asik's been one of the NBA's most improved players, and best defensive centers, but Morey's attempt to pass the buck (literally) on Asik's bloated remaining year came undone. Teams were wary of the looming salary boom, and Morey's habit of usually being way smarter than the guy on the other end of the phone.

And so, after the passing of several team-mandated deadlines, and finally the League's, Omer Asik is still on the Houston Rockets, in a limited reserve role, openly unhappy, and due almost $15 million next season.

Minnesota Timberwolves
Among the League's relative disappointments this season (remember, this is still largely a David Kahn team), the Wolves are seemingly under pressure to release Kevin Love from the pack.

A continually visibly unhappy superstar whose contract expires after next year, Love will eventually leave Minnesota, but they can decide whether on their terms or his. The lack of action last week only hurts their rebuild timetable; it's not as though there won't still be teams lining up for him in the offseason, when offices with room to maneuver might be more willing to make a big play for a superstar.

The Wolves need to begin to treat this with urgency though. Love can't remain undealt going into next season; it will delay the inevitable, shroud their team in uncertainty, and give opposing GMs more leverage as his departure draws closer. This is just like ripping off a Band-Aid; it will hurt a lot less if done quickly.

L.A. Lakers 
Everyone and their grandmother on Twitter spent the weeks leading up to the Deadline suggesting that Pau Gasol was about to be dealt, but the Lakers were unlikely to get as much value out of Gasol as they could this summer.

The Lakers are unloading most of their payroll in July, and can either re-sign Gasol at a significant rebate via 'Bird Rights', or let him walk and have eight figures in extra cap room. That cap room is intrinsically worth more to the Lakers than most franchises; they're able to attract top-tier talent easily and will never have to overpay someone to join them.

Already armed with a fresh Spending License, and a very good shot at a high Lottery pick, this was probably good spot for the Lakers to bide their time.

New York Knicks
Carmelo's still a Knick, and the odds of him re-signing in a few months rest somewhere between New York's chances of making the Playoffs, and having a Lottery pick in this year's Draft.

Knicks fans, my continued sympathies.

North Goes South for All-Star Weekend

If you don't live in New Orleans, or aren't a celebrity/connected with an NBA franchise, you more than likely got a second-hand glimpse of the NBA's All-Star Weekend festivities. You missed the excitement of the live arena, the flavor of Louisiana, and of course all the shenanigans that happened off-camera.

Fortunately, there's exceptions to every rule. Basketball Banter Buddy Sean Francois being one of them. Sean's website, Hoop Heads North, had a chance to take in the Weekend through their #ReignOn promotion with Crown Royal.

Sean spent the weekend shoulder-to-shoulder with NBA's past and present, with event tickets, media availability, and VIP access to shindigs including a sit-down with the immortal Julius Erving. Yeah, chilling with Dr. J... Kinda makes up for the Dunk Contest.

Hoop Heads North will be rolling out exclusive content all week, sharing the awesome experience with those of us who weren't on the Bayou for the party. There's a preview up right now, and plenty more to come...

So stay tuned to HHN for Banter's (outsourced) All-Star coverage; and big thanks to Sean for giving us a glimpse behind the scenes. Keep Reigning On!

Better Than Bruno Mars: The Halftime Awards

Welcome to Basketball Banter's Annual Halftime Awards, where we (I) salute the NBA players who've made the greatest impact on the season's first 41 games. It's been a bit of a tumultuous campaign so far, but these are the most deserving candidates for the League's individual awards:

Rookie of the Year: Michael Carter-Williams, Philadelphia 76ers
Seen as a bit of a wild-card pick, even in a wild-card Draft, Carter-Williams quickly rose to the top of the class with a near quadruple-double (22/12ast/9stl/7reb.One turnover.) in an opening-night win over the Heat, and hasn't looked back much.

He can't really shoot, and he turns the ball over too much - as most rookie PGs do - but MCW's quickness and size allow him to do so much else on the court, from defending several positions, to being a menace in the passing lanes, creating well off the dribble, and rebounding more than any PG.

Carter-Williams may be lightly bumping into the Rookie Wall, but he remains enough of a favorite that this may be wrapped up unless he (God forbid) goes the way so many other Ones this season.

Regards to: Victor Oladipo, Tim Hardaway Jr, Giannis Antetokounmpo

Most Improved Player: Miles Plumlee, Phoenix Suns
I know a lot of people are jocking Anthony Davis for this award, but regardless of how undeniably he's in the midst of "The Leap", his rookie season wasn't that far off his per-minute pace this year. He's playing almost seven more minutes per game now that's he's stronger and fully healthy, so naturally his numbers will jump.

Meanwhile, Plumlee is quietly having a productive season for the Phoenix Suns, averaging a shade under 10/9 in the pivot while emerging as a dangerous weak-side shot blocker, and irritating, energetic defender.

What bears noting is that the Alpha Plumlee appeared in 14 games for the Pacers last year (whose bench kind of sucked if you recall), amassing gaudy averages of 0.9/1.6. Yeah, he scored 13 points the entire season. Now he's the White Shawn Kemp, and the prime over-achiever on maybe the NBA's biggest surprise team. Tell me who's "Improved" more.

Regards to: Eric Bledsoe/Basically Everyone on Phoenix, Anthony Davis, DeAndre Jordan, Kemba Walker, Lance Stephenson (someone cue the "cut-off acceptance speech" music)

Sixth Man of the Year: Manu Ginobili, San Antonio Spurs
I'll be the first to admit, I thought Ginobili had finally faded after last year's awful Playoff run, and just like every other time I'd said anything even remotely pessimistic about the Spurs, I was proven wrong. He's bounced back with a signature Manu Season, in line for the Sixth Man trophy yet again (in fact, he's only actually won it once, which is kind of like Shaq only having one MVP).

Ever a living testament to the old "it's not who starts the game, but who finishes it" adage, Manu continuing to be Manu is one of the biggest reasons the Spurs - while "playing for June" - are still the West's best team.

Regards to: Taj Gibson, Tyreke Evans, the favorite-turned-replacement starter (Reggie Jackson)

Coach of the Year: Terry Stotts, Portland Trailblazers
The first of two awards that have been beyond difficult to decide, Stotts gets an alarmingly slim nod over Jeff Hornacek, whose teams have both massively exceeded expectations this year.

Portland was supposed to be fighting a losing battle for one of the West's final Playoff spots, while Phoenix was supposed to be trying to be the worst team in the Conference. Instead, the Suns are currently Playoff-bound (and have more games remaining vs. the East than any West team), while Portland is fighting a losing battle for the West's top seed.

Which is really what gives Stotts the edge in a race where both coaches have devised unique systems (Stotss on offense, Hornacek on both sides of the ball) and gotten career years out of several players; Portland's level of success, which can't be ignored.

Regards to: Jeff Hornacek, Gregg Popovich, Frank Vogel

Defensive Player of the Year: Roy Hibbert, Indiana Pacers
Shot blocking...blah blah blah...alters everything near the hoop...blah blah blah...backbone of NBA's best defense...blah blah blah...Verticality...blah blah blah...

Regards to: LeBron James, Tony Allen, Dwight Howard

Most Valuable Player: Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City Thunder
*DISCLAIMER* This does not mean I think Durant is a better basketball player than LeBron James. Nobody is. But this season, in the context of the MVP award, I think he's the more deserving candidate.

Also, this has nothing to do with being "bored" of voting for LeBron. An argument as stupid as "It's KD's Turn" can't influence the most important award.

Further, this isn't just a fickle reaction to Durant's recent string of malicious scoring nights either, though they certainly haven't hurt his case.

This is the result of KD being the more vital player to the better team out of Miami and OKC thus far, averaging career highs in scoring and (Rebs+Assts), and keeping the Thunder on track through two unlikely Russell Westbrook injuries. His percentages have fallen slightly - defenses are able to key on him all the more without Westbrook - but are still within striking distance of .50/.40/.90, which is relatively even more impressive without a co-pilot.

Both Durant and LeBron are in the midst of transcendent seasons, and really either of them could take this trophy without much of a legitimate protest from anyone. Both have had to do so much for their teams, but the following facts are true:

- Russell Westbrook, who against most standards is a better player than Dwyane Wade, has sat more games for the Thunder this year than Wade has for the Heat. This puts Durant, in the sense of playing as a lone star and thus individually "valuable" to his team, at a greater disadvantage. Peripherally, Chris Bosh is also better than Serge Ibaka and Reggie Jackson.

- Aside from a career-high FG%, all of LeBron's key stats, factoring Wade's periodic absence, are below his career averages. I hate to point this out when he does so much so well, but you'd expect the opposite if anything. And the Heat are routinely losing games Wade sits.

- Miami has a worse record than OKC, and plays in a substantially worse Conference. So both of these guys are making massive MVP contributions for Top-3 teams in the absence of fellow stars, only one of them is winning against much better teams at a higher rate.

So in a race this close, the scales are tipped ever-so-slightly in Durant's favor by his unconscious domination leading to his team's superior position, in the midst of a worse handicap. So what, it is KD's turn.

Regards to: LeBron James. That's It. 

Much could evolve over the coming months to change the course of the MVP, and (most of) the rest of the awards. Good luck to the contenders; on the the Second Half...