Toronto Wins NBA Championship!

The Toronto Raptors are the NBA Champions after defeating the Golden State Warriors in the 2019 NBA Finals 4-2.  I watched a ton of NBA this year and it was so much fun and Kawhi Leonard and the Toronto Raptors were a big part of it.  They rolled the dice in the offseason to pick up Leonard and Danny Green for what may be a one year rental.  It worked and was worth it no matter what happens this offseason.  Brilliant move and it's hard not to be happy for this team.  Glad to see long time Raptor Kyle Lowry get to hoist the trophy.  If Toronto hadn't won the series who knows what this team would look like going forward.  Now, no matter what happens, he's a champion and his story is a happy one. It was also fun watching Pascal Siakam, Serge Ibaka, Danny Green and Marc Gasol play big parts in the series or in parts of the series.  

The Warriors were great in defeat.  If they aren't devastated by injuries this series is absolutely different but do they win?  I don't know.  What they showed in defeat is amazing.  It shows how great they are and the heart they have.  At times it was Stephen Curry and Draymond Green against all odds.  Props to the Warriors for another great season and showing what they are made of in these finals.  Quick side note - I listened to Draymond Green's interview after game 6 and he came across so different from what I think of him.  Great interview.  Smart dude.  Changed the way I look at him.

Now the offseason starts which will be wild.  Injuries to two of the top 5 free agents may or may not change the free agent landscape.  Me?  I give Durant and Thompson max contracts, injuries or not.  They are stars of this league and game changers.  I don't hesitate.  I'll be curious to see what teams do.  This year's free agent class is historically great and it should be wildy fun to watch.  The season may be over but the fun is just beginning.

NBA Finals Look - Golden State Warriors @ Toronto Raptors

Golden State Warriors vs Toronto Raptors in the NBA Finals is a good match up to me.  I thought Milwaukee may be a little deeper but Toronto is an excellent defensive team and is as well on offense.  That said they'll play the juggernaut that is the Warriors.  Toronto does have have home court and we aren't sure where Kevin Durant is with his injury.  I love Kawhi Leonard and he's shown he is the beast we thought he was in this year's playoffs.  I'm not putting my money on Toronto yet but I really think they can give Golden State a good series which is all we can ask for.  And if a few breaks go there way maybe Canada sees their first NBA Championship.  I think the key will be the first few games when the Raptor will play at home and the Warriors may or may not have KD.  No matter how seasoned a team is, going down 2-0 in a best of seven is tough.  We just saw the Raptors recover winning four straight over Milwaukee but that isn't the norm.  Nor is Golden State.  They are so talented on offense and defense it is tough to see them losing.  They were down against Portland in game after game but just shook it off to come back in each game.  I'll take the Warriors in six games but would love to see Kawhi and Toronto take home the Championship.      

Trail Blazers Beat Thunder 4 games to 1 in Round 1

The Portland Trail Blazers advance to round 2 of the Western Conference Playoffs thanks to an outstanding game five by DamianLillard including this spectacular last second three point shot from 37 feet.  You couldn’t ask for a better way to win the game and series.  His 50 points were key but this was about how well Portland as a whole played in this series against a very good Oklahoma City Thunder team.  Watching the games they played good team defense and had solid contributions all around.

As a team Portland shot 44% from the field and 40% from three while getting 33 and 24 points per game from Lillard and CJ McCollum.  Enes Kanter had a monster game one with 20 points and 18 rebounds while giving Portland 13 and 10 for the series. Maurice Harkless and Al-Farouq Aminu played well rounding out the starting five.  But for me it was the team defense.  As a whole they sagged off Russell Westbrook letting him take outside shots which he didn’t hit consistently.  Paul George got his but you’re never going to “stop” great players like Westbrook and George.  You just hope to contain them which I think Portland did a great job of.

Still I have to think Lillard comes out of this series with a few more fans.  Those of us who are fans of the team already know how really good he is and he really shined this series.  He went toe-to-toe with Russell Westbrook and beat him while looking good doing it.  Hopefully Portland’s second round series will allow even more NBA fans to see how good this guy really is. 

Can’t wait to see who Portland’s round two opponent is and if you haven’t seen the ending to last night’s game – go watch it!

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers - Round 1 NBA Playoffs

The Portland Trail Blazers got the 3rd seed in the Western Conference Playoffs and as their prize play the Oklahoma City Thunder in their seven game first round match up.  The Thunder swept the series series after being swept during last year's season series.  This is a tough match up for the Trail Blazers.  They come in to the series without excellent center Jusuf Nurkic due to injury.  Late season pick up Enes Kanter, a former thunder, has played really well in Nurkic's absence and it should be fun to watch him against Thunder center Stephen Adams.  Still he isn't the player Nurkic is but is a more than capable replacement - good job grabbing him when they did.  The Thunder for their part will be without key defender Andre Robertson.  

The key to this series for me is defense and doing something to corral Thunder stars Paul George and Russell Westbrook.  You can't even pretend you'll stop either of these guys but you have to get them off their game.  I'm not sure how the Trail Blazers do it but the Thunder haven't been unstoppable this year.  Everyone will have to play good defense every possession to have any shot.  Portland has the offense as Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum can light it up with the best of them but the role players will have to step up on both ends of the court.  I'm looking at you Al-Farouq Aminu.  This should be a great series.  Hopefully Portland will prevail and I look forward to good games as the Trail Blazers look to scare away Playoff disappointment ghosts of years past.

  

Knicks Trade Kristaps Porzingis To Mavericks

The New York Knicks traded Kristaps Porzingis, Courtney Lee, Trey Burke and Tim Hardaway Jr. to the Dallas Mavericks for Dennis Smith Jr., DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and two first-round picks. More details are here at hoopsrumors.com.  I really like this trade.  After determining Porzingis did not want to stay in New York the Knicks traded him to the Mavs and it could really be a win-win for both teams.  For the Knicks they did three things with this trade - cleared cap space with the acquisitions of Jordan and Matthews who are on expiring deals, received a good young talent in point guard Dennis Smith Jr., and also receive two first round picks allowing them to pick up more young talent moving forward.  What else could they ask for?  The list of free agents this upcoming offseason is sooooo deep.  They should be able to use all that cap space they'll have to grab some quality players.  This team didn't have a clear plan for getting better before this trade.  That changes if they can get a couple of those top 10 players from that list.  That is a big if and if anyone can screw it up the Knicks can...but I'm saying there is a chance...

The Mavericks on the other hand take on all the risk.  Still this could end up going very well.  Porzingis is coming off a torn ACL so there is no guarantee he'll be back to all-star form.  He was such a good player you have to like the idea of pairing him with probable rookie of the year Luka Doncic.  The players they took back will give them some firepower to help out Doncic this year while Porzingis heals.  Porzingis is a restricted free agent next year.  Dallas will look to sign him long term I'm sure.  Porzingis will have to weigh accepting the Mav's qualifying offer and being an unrestricted free agent in 2020 or taking a long term deal.  Does he play one year, waiting on unrestricted free agency and risk getting hurt again or not looking good in 2019-2020?  Dallas also gave up two first round picks.  That seemed excessive to me but we'll have to see where those land and what players New York is able to draft.  

I'd say New York walks away the winner here.  Free cap space and the extra draft picks seem to put them in position to turn it around quickly - if all goes well.  Dallas now has a great talent in Porzingis but he is injured and they have to hope he gets back to his 2017-2018 levels for this to be a win for them and they also need to sign him to a long term deal.  Many "what ifs" on both sides but still it is a fun trade and it is great seeing one of this magnitude before the trade deadline.  Now we wait and see if Anthony Davis is moved next week at the deadline.