With Thanksgiving just a day away, there’s a ton to be thankful for as teams around the NBA celebrate and take the day off.
In the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers are most thankful for former Dallas mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison for trading away Luka Doncic, The San Antonio Spurs are most thankful for the country of France existing so that Victor Wembayama could get drafted from there and the Oklahoma City Thunder are most thankful for its one and only NBA Championship, and potentially its second coming up in the summer.
On the flip side in the Eastern Conference, we’ll dive into what each of the local teams are thankful for. For some of the other teams, like the Detroit Pistons, its thankful that it’s young core stuck together and has continued success after last season’s playoff run. The Toronto Raptors are thankful for trading for Brandon Ingram, who has molded the team absent of a leader into one of the best teams in the league. And lastly, the Boston Celtics are most thankful for Jaylen Brown in the absence of Jayson Tatum, who has powered the Celtics despite a mediocre start to its season.
Aside from the holiday this week, the biggest piece of news to come from the NBA is the return of LeBron James to the Lakers and their continued success this season. Already second in the Western Conference without James, the Lakers have had outstanding play from pretty much the entire team, but Doncic has been absolutely lights out on the court. Doncic is averaging just over 35 points this season and falls just shy of averaging a double-double with 9.2 assists and 8.8 rebounds per game. He’s the front runner for the MVP title this season and those numbers are just a sample as to why that’s the case.
The last thing from this wek of NBA news is that Chris Paul official confirmed he will retire from the game after the end of the season. Paul is the last player drafted in 2006 who was still playing in the NBA is a lock for the Basketball Hall of Fame when his time comes. The 12-time All-Star has played for seven teams in his career (Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Hornets, Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors) and is second all-time in assists with 12,546 in his career.
Let’s look now at how the local teams have fared this week and what each team is most thankful for at this point in the season.
Brooklyn Nets (3-14)
Results this week: 113-99 loss vs. Boston, 113-105 win at Boston, 119-109 loss at Toronto, 113-100 loss vs. New York.
What to be thankful for: Young core with promise.
Season after season, the Nets feel like its stuck in an ever-rebuilding mindset with no end in sight.
It’s been just two seasons since the Nets last made the playoffs, yet it certainly doesn’t feel like that. Its promising young stars the Nets drafted could mean an end is imminent. Those stars just need time to develop and figure out whether its what the Nets need in the near future.
Are all five first round draft picks going to work out for Brooklyn? Time will tell. Whether they work or could be used as compensation in a trade could also be worthwhile.
The play from Drake Powell and Egor Demin show more promise than the other first rounders with their extensive playing time and could be the face of the franchise after this season with Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton potentially making their way out of Brooklyn.
Despite that, Powell nearly averages a steal per game, which leads the team, and Demin averages about 3.4 assists per game in his nine starts this season.
The other first rounders will see their playing time come later in the season as Brooklyn figures out how they play together with the rest of the team. They are all young, but the potential is there.
New York Knicks (10-6)
Results this week: 113-111 win at Dallas, 133-121 loss at Orlando, 113-100 win at Brooklyn.
What to be thankful for: Having a quality bench.
This was something missing from the Knicks for the past couple of seasons and now it feels like it makes a difference in games.
The depth of the bench and how it’s utilized is led by head coach Mike Brown. Bronw’s rotation of his starters and the minutes allotted to the bench have, in times, saved games for New York. In previous season’s the stars would get exhausted and the lack of play from the bench made it rusty and often cost the Knicks a game here and there.
The shining stars on the bench have been Landry Shamet and Jordan Clarkson. Clarkson is averaging about 11 points per game with nearly two rebounds in his role off the bench while Shamet shined in the absence of Jalen Brunson with his outrageous 36-point game against Miami at The Garden.
Miles McBride has been the main figure on the bench for the Knicks and is the perfect player for New York. It would be unfair to talk about the Knicks bench players and not highlight McBride with his 10 points per game and 2.5 assists and rebounds.
As long as the stars stay healthy and the bench maybe adds one more quality player, the Knicks should be in good hands going down the stretch.
Philadelphia 76ers (9-8)
Results this week: 121-112 loss vs. Toronto, 123-114 win at Milwaukee, 127-117 loss vs. Miami, 144-103 loss vs. Orlando.
What to be thankful for: Rising stars.
These weekly recaps always seem to point out the play of VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey.
Well, that’s because they are both great for the 76ers.
Edgecombe, the rookie, is averaging 15.6 points per game and has greatly impacted the play for Philadelphia this season. Edgecombe is also averaging six rebounds a game and has only missed one game this season.
Maxey has been with the team and has proven that he should be in a 76ers jersey long term. His 32 points and 7.5 assists per game have carried the team in the absence of Joel Embiid while simultaneously working perfectly alongside Edgecombe.
Paul George is also working his way back from injury and will only see his minutes improve. His leadership along with Embiid for the young stars is just as important as their play on the court.
After a strong start to the season, the 76ers are cooling off. The play from the young stars, however, is anything but cooling off.
