Hoops Rumors Polls

Poll: Who Will Win Jazz/Nuggets Game 7?

August 31st, 2020 at 3:21pm CST by Luke Adams

Depending on the outcome of Monday’s Rockets/Thunder showdown, it’s possible we’ll still get one more Game 7 in the first round of the NBA’s 2020 postseason. For now though, Jazz/Nuggets is the only series guaranteed to go the full seven, with the deciding contest scheduled to take place on Tuesday.

The series between two Northwest rivals has been a back-and-forth affair, with Denver taking a 1-0 lead, Utah winning three consecutive games, and Denver clawing back to make it 3-3.

The first-round matchup has also served as a coming-out party for two of the NBA’s most promising young guards. Donovan Mitchell, a first-time All-Star earlier this year, has taken his game to another level this postseason as he has assumed an even greater share of the Jazz’s offensive responsibilities, averaging an eye-popping 38.7 PPG to go along with 5.5 APG on .548/.554/.946 shooting in six games vs. Denver.

However, Jamal Murray has matched him nearly every step of the way, proving that the Nuggets weren’t wrong to sign him to a five-year, maximum-salary extension a year ago. After pouring in 50 points on Sunday for the second time in three games, Murray is now averaging 34.0 PPG and 6.7 APG on .585/.574/.913 shooting for the series.

The Nuggets and Jazz will do all they can in Game 7 to slow down the opposing team’s top scorer, but the outcome may ultimately come down to which club’s other stars and role players step up. In Game 6, Nikola Jokic and Jerami Grant came up big for Denver. The Nuggets also got a boost from Gary Harris‘ return following a lengthy absence due to a hip injury.

Mike Conley (22.8 PPG on .569/.607/.889 shooting) has had a strong series and Rudy Gobert has been solid, but the Jazz may need contributions from complementary players like Joe Ingles, Jordan Clarkson, and Royce O’Neale to slow the Nuggets’ momentum in Game 7.

What do you think? Are you taking either the Nuggets or the Jazz in Game 7? And which team do you think would match up better in the second round against the Clippers?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Who Will Make Eastern Conference Finals?

August 30th, 2020 at 6:00pm CST by JD Shaw

With the Celtics and Raptors officially kicking off one half of the Eastern Conference Semifinals on Sunday, it’s time to consider which two teams are most likely to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals next round.

The other half of the semis feature a much-anticipated series between the Heat and Bucks, with Game 1 scheduled to take place on Monday.

All four teams accrued impressive records during the regular season (Bucks at 56-17, Raptors at 53-19, Celtics at 48-24, and Heat at 44-29), and each have unquestionably earned the right to compete for a spot in the next round. Despite Miami finishing 12 games behind Milwaukee this season, the team is known for slowing down opposing stars and utilizing strategies such as zone defense when needed.

The Heat thrive on three-point shooting and are widely recognized as one of the top perimeter teams in the league behind the likes of Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro and others. Therein lies a weakness for Milwaukee, which prefers to pack the interior while allowing a high rate of attempts from behind the arc.

Nevertheless, a clear talent disparity exists between the Bucks and Heat, with Milwaukee having the Defensive Player of the Year and perennial Most Valuable Player candidate in Giannis Antetokounmpo. The club also has a second All-Star in Khris Middleton, who averaged a career-high 20.9 points per game on 50% shooting from the floor and 42% from deep this season.

As for the Celtics and Raptors, Boston managed to take Game 1 behind Kemba Walker‘s 18 points and 10 assists — his first career playoff double-double — and Jayson Tatum‘s 21 points. The team played without Gordon Hayward (right ankle sprain), who could return later in the series.

Toronto possesses a unique starting backcourt comprising of two smaller guards (Kyle Lowry and Fred VanVleet), both of whom are electric offensively and pesky on defense. However, it remains to be seen how successful the team could be in the playoffs with that undersized backcourt. The Raptors were able to force 22 turnovers on Sunday, but the team shot just 31-of-84 from the field (36.9%) and 10-of-40 from deep (25%).

What do you think? Who do you believe will reach the Eastern Conference Finals next round? Do you think the Raptors will return for a second consecutive year, or do you think the Celtics will make it for the first time since losing a seven-game series to Cleveland in 2018? Do the Heat have what it takes to defeat the star-studded Bucks, or will Milwaukee be too much to handle in a playoff series?

Vote in our poll, then take to the comments section below to voice your opinion!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Lakers’ Postseason Outlook

August 20th, 2020 at 12:29pm CST by Luke Adams

A dominant regular season leading up to the stoppage of the NBA’s season in March all but locked up the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference for the Lakers entering the summer restart. However, the team hasn’t quite looked like itself since play resumed. LeBron James‘ squad went 3-5 during the seeding games and dropped Game 1 of its first-round series to the No. 8 Trail Blazers.

The Lakers’ shooting doomed them in Game 1. Despite out-rebounding the Blazers, winning the turnover battle, and moving the ball better, the Lakers just couldn’t put the ball in the basket, finishing with an abysmal shooting line of .351/.156/.645.

L.A. still only lost by seven points, and the team’s shooting won’t be that bad every game. But beyond James and Anthony Davis, many of the Lakers’ secondary scorers are streaky, including Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who went a combined 4-of-21 from the floor on Tuesday. Additionally, Avery Bradley‘s absence means the club is without its top perimeter defender — that’s not insignificant in a series against Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.

In a discussion about the Lakers’ situation today, ESPN’s writers expressed mixed opinions on whether it’s too early to start worrying about the team. As Kevin Pelton points out, L.A. is still getting the same quality shots it got during the regular season, and it seems likely those shots will start dropping at some point. However, Nick Friedell and Andre Snellings view the Lakers’ roster as top-heavy and have questions about the supporting cast.

Neither Friedell nor Royce Young necessarily expects the Lakers to fall in the first round to the eighth-seeded Blazers. However, both ESPN writers expressed skepticism that L.A. should still be considered a prime championship frontrunner.

It’s worth noting that even before the Lakers’ Game 1 loss to Portland, sports books had generally started listing the Clippers as title favorites over the Lakers, with some moving the Bucks ahead as well, per David Purdum of ESPN.

What do you think? Has your opinion of the Lakers changed at all since the restart began? Do you expect them to start firing on all cylinders again any day now? How confident do you feel right now in forecasting a Finals appearance – or win – for the Lakers?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to weigh in with your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Lakers Vs. Clippers

July 31st, 2020 at 11:53am CST by Luke Adams

Following Thursday’s game at the NBA campus in Orlando, the Lakers and Clippers have now faced each other four times this season, with each team winning a pair of those games.

Los Angeles’ teams are widely viewed as the top two contenders to make it out of the Western Conference and compete in the NBA Finals this fall. While a challenger like the Nuggets, Jazz, or Rockets could break up the all-L.A. party, the Lakers and Clippers are on track to play on opposite sides of the West bracket in the postseason, putting them on a collision course to meet in the Western Finals.

Assuming the two L.A. teams do meet again in the playoffs and we haven’t seen the last of the LeBron James/Anthony Davis vs. Kawhi Leonard/Paul George showdowns of the 2019/20 season, we want to know what you expect to happen in a best-of-seven series between the Lakers and Clippers.

The Lakers had the last word on Thursday night, as a last-minute LeBron put-back proved to be the game-winner in a 103-101 victory. But the Clippers were missing key players like Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell. The Clips were +16 in minutes that Leonard played, and having second-unit standouts like Williams and Harrell available could have made those non-Kawhi minutes more manageable.

On the other hand, it’s not like we saw the Lakers at their best either. James and Davis combined to go 14-of-38 from the field, showing some rust after not playing real games in over four-and-a-half months. The club is also still experimenting with its summer rotation and will likely continue to do so until everyone – including the players who arrived in Orlando late – is up to full speed.

Another point worth considering: The Lakers have all but clinched the No. 1 seed, but their lack of home court advantage over the Clippers at Walt Disney World may be even more meaningful in an all-L.A. series than it would be in other series — if every game were played at Staples Center, the Lakers might end up with a de facto home court advantage for the entire series, as their fans often show up en masse at Clippers “home” games. That won’t happen on a neutral court in Orlando.

What do you think? After watching the Lakers and Clippers face each other four times this season, which team would you pick to win a seven-game postseason series? Do you fully expect the two L.A. teams to meet again in the playoffs, or will one of them falter before the Western Finals?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Will Grizzlies Hang Onto No. 8 Seed In West?

June 9th, 2020 at 1:35pm CST by Luke Adams

When the NBA season was suspended in March, the Grizzlies held a 3.5-game lead over the top challengers for the No. 8 seed, but were entering one of the toughest stretches of their 2019/20 schedule. At 32-33, Memphis had 17 games left. Of those 17 games, 11 were against playoff teams and five were against immediate threats to the Grizzlies’ playoff spot (Portland, New Orleans, and San Antonio).

Now that the league has settled on playing just eight more games this summer, the Grizzlies’ path to a postseason spot is simpler in some ways, but more complicated in others. Any team hoping to pass the Grizzlies for the No. 8 seed will have to make up four games in an eight-game stretch, which will be a tall order.

Even if the Grizzlies play sub-.500 ball and go 3-5 when play resumes, the Trail Blazers, Pelicans, Kings, or Spurs will have to go 7-1 to surpass or match them. The Suns, who are six games back, wouldn’t even be able to catch Memphis if the Grizz win more than two games.

However, the NBA’s new rules for Orlando also ensure that the Grizzlies will be subject to a play-in tournament if at least one team finishes within four games of them. In other words, unless Memphis increases or maintains its lead over all five teams behind them in the Western Conference standings during those eight seeding games, a play-in tournament is happening.

The Grizzlies would still have a leg up in that play-in tournament, which would pit them against the No. 9 team. Memphis would only have to win one game, while the challenger would have to win twice. But the club wouldn’t have much room for error — losing the first game in the play-in tournament would result in a winner-take-all second game.

Assuming the summer schedule is made up primarily of the next games on the team’s initial schedule, as expected, the Grizzlies will still have a challenging path, but it won’t be too grueling. Memphis wouldn’t be a major underdog against Portland, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, or New Orleans (twice). And while the Grizzlies would likely have to face the Bucks and possibly the Celtics, none of the West’s top three teams would be on their upcoming slate.

What do you think? When play resumes this summer, will the Grizzlies hang onto the No. 8 seed, clinching it outright or in a play-in tournament? Or will another team make a run and claim the conference’s final postseason berth?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Will Wizards Make Playoffs?

June 8th, 2020 at 12:20pm CST by Luke Adams

While five current lottery teams in the Western Conference will be given the opportunity to snatch the No. 8 seed from the Grizzlies when play resumes in Orlando this summer, only one current non-playoff team in the East has been invited to Disney. That team is the Wizards, the No. 9 seed in the conference when the season was suspended in March.

The Wizards weren’t exactly knocking on the door of a playoff spot before play was halted. At 24-40, Washington was 5.5 games behind the Magic for the eighth seed in the East and a full six games back of the seventh-seeded Nets. However, the NBA’s new 22-team format for the summer will give the Wizards at least an outside shot at a spot in the postseason.

Here’s what Washington will have to do to make the playoffs this summer:

Pull to within four games of either Orlando or Brooklyn. This will mean outplaying one of those clubs by at least two games during the eight “seeding games.” In other words, if the Nets and Magic each go 3-5, the Wizards would need to go 5-3 to force a play-in tournament.
If they force a play-in tournament, the Wizards would need to defeat the Nets or Magic twice without losing a game to earn the No. 8 seed in the East.

There are other scenarios in which the Wizards could make the postseason, but they’re next to impossible. For instance, if Washington goes 8-0 when play resumes and the Nets and Magic can’t muster more than a win or two, the Wizards could claim the No. 7 seed outright, or move up to No. 8 and get the double-elimination advantage in a play-in tournament. That’s a pipe dream though, especially given the schedule Washington will face this summer.

We don’t yet know exactly what the schedule for those eight seeding games will look like, but reports have indicated that the general plan is for teams to pick up where they left off in March, with games against bottom-eight clubs skipped.

For the Wizards, that could mean opening with games against the Celtics, Thunder, and Sixers before getting an opportunity to play the Nets. From there, Washington’s next three games may be again Boston (again), the Suns, and the Bucks. There are some winnable games in there, but given how the Wizards played in their first 64 games, expecting more than three or four victories is probably overly optimistic.

Still, anything could happen when play resumes. While the Wizards aren’t expecting John Wall back, it sounds like the Nets won’t have Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving active, and there’s no guarantee the Magic will have Jonathan Isaac or Al-Farouq Aminu available. If they can force a play-in tournament, the Wizards wouldn’t necessarily be massive underdogs to either of those teams.

What do you think? Is there any chance the Wizards make the postseason? If you believe in Washington, do you think they’ll knock out the Magic? Or will the Nets be the team to slip out of the postseason?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Should NBA Use 1-16 Seeding For 2020 Playoffs?

May 25th, 2020 at 11:42am CST by Luke Adams

While the idea has yet to gain a ton of momentum, there has been talk in recent years about the idea of the NBA re-seeding its playoff teams once the postseason begins, ranking those clubs first through 16th based on overall records, regardless of conference.

For instance, the Clippers have the second-best record in the West this year, but the fourth-best mark in the NBA, so they’d be the No. 4 seed. The Sixers, sixth in the East, would become a No. 12 seed, reflecting their place in the overall NBA standings.

Such a change would help even the playing field if one conference is significantly stronger than the other, as was the case for the Western Conference for much of the 2010s. However, it hasn’t really gained steam due to travel concerns and because it would require approval from the NBA’s Board of Governors — generally, team owners in the weaker conference have a vested interest in keeping the format as is.

However, as the NBA works toward potentially resuming its 2019/20 season, the league could have a unique opportunity to experiment this summer. Two important factors would work in favor of testing the idea of re-seeding playoff teams using a 1-16 system:

If the NBA resumes play in a single bubble location (ie. Orlando), no travel would be required.
Eight of the current top 16 teams in the NBA standings are in the Western Conference, while eight are in the East. In other words, if the playoff seeding is tweaked, no current lottery team would make the postseason and no current playoff team would fall out.

During an appearance today on ESPN’s Get Up (video link), Brian Windhorst said he thinks there’s a real chance the NBA could go straight to the postseason if and when it returns, which could open the door for re-seeding the 16 playoff teams. According to Windhorst, league commissioner Adam Silver has long been interested in that concept.

As Windhorst notes, it remains unlikely that two-thirds of the NBA’s owners would be on board with such a format change for the long term. And even this season, there would likely be a number of teams in the East opposed to tweaking the format, since it would make their playoff draw a whole lot more challenging.

Still, if ever there was a time for owners to get on board with a one-off experiment, this would be the year.

Here’s what the playoffs would look like if the teams were re-seeded, regardless of conference, based on their current records:

First side of bracket:

Bucks (1) vs. Magic (16)
Heat (8) vs. Thunder (9)
Clippers (4) vs. Mavericks (13)
Celtics (5) vs. Sixers (12)

Second side of bracket:

Lakers (2) vs. Nets (15)
Jazz (7) vs. Rockets (10)
Raptors (3) vs. Grizzlies (14)
Nuggets (6) vs. Pacers (11)

And as a reminder, here’s what the playoffs would look like under the usual format:

Eastern Conference:

Bucks (1) vs. Magic (8)
Heat (4) vs. Pacers (5)
Raptors (2) vs. Nets (7)
Celtics (3) vs. Sixers (6)

Western Conference:

Lakers (1) vs. Grizzlies (8)
Jazz (4) vs. Thunder (5)
Clippers (2) vs. Mavericks (7)
Nuggets (3) vs. Rockets (6)

While a handful of first-round matchups would be the same regardless of the format the NBA uses, the re-seeding approach would create a handful of interesting inter-conference series, including Heat vs. Thunder, Raptors vs. Grizzlies, Nuggets vs. Pacers, and Lakers vs. Nets.

Things could get very interesting in the second and third rounds of a 1-16 format, with the Clippers potentially having to go through the Celtics and the Bucks before perhaps facing the Lakers in the Finals. The Lakers, on the other hand, might play the winner of a Raptors/Nuggets showdown for the right to advance to the Finals.

What do you think? Is re-seeding the playoff teams a worthwhile experiment, given this year’s unusual circumstances? Or would it be in the NBA’s best interest to stick to its usual postseason format, separating the East and the West until the Finals?

Vote in our poll, then head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Should The NBA Bring Back All 30 Teams?

May 22nd, 2020 at 9:23pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA apparently wants to bring back as many of its 30 teams as possible, provided that the league moves forward with tentative plans for a resumption of league play later this summer. The spread of the novel coronavirus caused league commissioner Adam Silver to halt the 2019/20 season on March 11. But should every team return, even the 14 likely lottery squads?

The most popular proposed plan is resuming play in one or two “bubble” sites, with Walt Disney World in Orlando emerging as the current front-runner, starting around mid-July. When play was paused in March, all teams had played between 63 and 67 of the regular season’s standard 82 games.

The notion of adding an extra 14 teams’ worth of players, team personnel and loved ones to a mass population that already includes 16 teams (with approximately 35 people traveling per each team), on top of referees and a broadcast media presence, at a moment in time when the highly-contagious COVID-19 is still incurable and spreading rampantly amidst close contact feels superfluously dangerous.

With a significant majority of the NBA’s games already having been played, why not limit the “bubble” head count with just the 16 teams sporting the best records when league play stopped?

If the league is concerned about teams being rusty due to the extended time off (at least four months by the earliest possible projections), perhaps the teams present could participate in something akin to a five-game tune-up “preseason” for two weeks. That way, lottery-bound teams or teams with the faintest of hopes at a playoff berth would not be taking undue extra risk by traveling to the “bubble” cities and mingling with the other teams.

The higher the head count, the higher the hypothetical risk of a COVID-19 spread among the players, coaches, and other traveling team personnel present. In a new piece, Steve Popper of Newsday also voiced his concern that including all 30 teams in an un-paused season was an unnecessary exercise. The best way to minimize risk is to keep the pool in a potential “bubble” city as finite as possible.

Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: Top Prospect In 2020 NBA Draft

May 21st, 2020 at 1:52pm CST by Luke Adams

When Zion Williamson went first overall in the 2019 NBA draft, it came as no surprise — he had been considered the top prospect in last year’s class for months, well before we knew which team would get the No. 1 pick. For the most part, the same can be said of other recent top picks like Anthony Davis (2012), Karl-Anthony Towns (2015), and perhaps even Markelle Fultz (2017).

On the other hand, some drafts have two or three prospects in the top tier. A number of draft experts believed Luka Doncic should be picked ahead of Deandre Ayton in 2018. In 2016, the debate over the No. 1 pick was between Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram.

The 2020 draft class, however, looks most similar to 2013’s group. That year, Nerlens Noel, Alex Len, Ben McLemore, and Victor Oladipo were among the many players considered candidates to be drafted first overall. The Cavaliers didn’t take anyone from that group, opting instead for Anthony Bennett.

2020’s similarities to 2013’s draft class doesn’t mean that this year’s first overall pick will have a Bennett-esque NBA career, but so far, we have little clarity on which player might be the first one off the board. LaMelo Ball, James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards, Obi Toppin, and Killian Hayes are among the players who have shown up atop various experts’ draft rankings, with no consensus on which player most NBA teams favor.

In an attempt to gauge which way NBA teams are leaning, Jeff Goodman of Stadium anonymously polled 35 team executives and found that 20 of them picked Wiseman as the top player in this year’s class. Of course, the big man played just three games for Memphis in the fall before leaving the program due to eligibility issues, so evaluators and scouts didn’t get much of a look at him at the college level. And even those that NBA execs who favor Wiseman don’t sound particularly enthusiastic about their choice.

“I wouldn’t even want the No. 1 pick,” one NBA general manager told Goodman. “If I have it, I’m trying like hell to trade it.”

“It’s not an easy decision,” another GM offered. “(But) even though the NBA doesn’t value bigs like it used to, there just aren’t a lot of seven-footers who can run and jump like Wiseman can out there.”

While Wiseman received the majority of the votes in Goodman’s poll, Edwards (10 votes), Ball (four), and Toppin (one) also had supporters. The only real consensus? It won’t be an easy decision for whichever team wins this year’s draft lottery.

“This is an underwhelming draft at the top,” one high-ranking executive told Goodman. “It’s as difficult for the No. 1 pick as I’ve seen in a long time.”

This year’s top choice may ultimately come down to the specific needs and preferences of the team that wins the lottery. But in our poll today, we want you to put positional needs aside and assume all other factors are equal. In that scenario, which of this year’s prospects would you be most comfortable drafting first overall?

Vote below in our poll, then head to the comment section to weigh in with your thoughts!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Poll: 2020 All-Rookie Second Team

May 8th, 2020 at 11:09am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s usual award season is in flux in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Under normal circumstances, the regular season would be over by this point and voting would have taken place on the league’s major awards. This year, however, it’s still unclear if or when the season will resume after being suspended in March, creating uncertainty about whether players will get any more regular season games to make their cases for award consideration, and about when voting will take place.

Resolving end-of-season awards is hardly the most pressing concern facing the NBA, but while we wait for further updates on the fate of the ’19/20 season, we’re passing the time with some award-related speculation.

Earlier this week, we asked you to vote on your All-Rookie First Team for 2019/20, and the results of that poll are now in. Here are the players you selected:

All-Rookie First Team:

Ja Morant, G (Grizzlies)
Zion Williamson, F (Pelicans)
Kendrick Nunn, G (Heat)
Tyler Herro, G (Heat)
Brandon Clarke, F (Grizzlies)

As those results show, many of this year’s most impressive rookies could be found on just two clubs, with Memphis and Miami each getting a pair of first-year players on the First Team.

While Morant was expected to have a significant impact after being selected second overall last June, Herro (No. 13), Clarke (No. 21), and Nunn (undrafted in 2018) flew under the radar during the 2019 offseason and have exceeded expectations as rookies. They’re all worthy First Team choices, in my opinion.

Williamson rounds out the team, despite playing just 19 games so far. His per-game numbers (23.6 PPG, 6.8 RPG, 2.2 APG) and his impact on the Pelicans were so impressive that it’s hard to argue with the choice, though I wonder a few voters will leave him off their First Team ballots this summer due to his limited playing time.

Today, we’re moving onto our vote on the 2020 All-Rookie Second Team. Unlike the All-NBA squads, which feature 15 players, there are only a pair of All-Rookie teams, featuring 10 total players. As such, this will be our last All-Rookie poll. We’ll break down the results on Monday.

You can make your picks below for the players you believe are worthy of spots on the All-Rookie Second Team. Be sure to choose five players, regardless of position, then take to the comment section to explain your choices!

Trade Rumors app users, click here to vote.

Load More Posts