Ohonsi's NBA Blog

1st Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) (MVP) Doncic (Mavs) Antetokounmpo (Bucks)  Jokic (Nuggets) Brunson (Knicks) 2nd Tatum (Celtics)  Booker (Suns) Durant (Suns) James (Lakers) Davis (Lakers) 3rd Edwards (Wolves) Fox (Kings) Maxey (Sixers) Mitchell (Cavs) Irving (Mavs) *Curry (Warriors) and Leonard (Clippers) would replace the last 2 if I based it off of the 65 game rule. *Mine are positionless like the real ones but I'm still applying the general modern era rule that a player needs at least 50 games played to be on the All-NBA team. And since they're positionless, the order of the players represent my MVP rankings.  *Creating All-star and All-NBA teams is a great mental exercise for me. *They're based on (in this order): scoring production and talent (explained at the end), creating shots for others, rebounding and defense, team success. *The most important skill in basketball by far is being able to score in isolation (off the dribble, posting up, or the face up jumper) at ...

On paper, I think Minnesota is best suited to represent the western conference in the finals. They're led by a star who elevates his game every time during the playoffs and is a good 3 level scorer (Ant). The Wolves also employ one of the greatest three-point shooting big men in history who can serve as an effective post scorer too (KAT). Gobert is 1 of the best rebounders and shot blockers in the modern era. Minny's quality defense extends to the perimeter as well. Edwards, McDaniels, Alexander-Walker, and Anderson are players who've shown to be at least good defenders in their careers. Reid is a skilled scorer off the bench that does a great job backing up Towns and/or Rudy. And at point guard is a reliable, battle tested vet who's a very efficient 3-point shooter in Conley. But can they figure out their 4th quarter scoring woes in the postseason?  Will Minnesota have to sacrifice the backbone of their defense (Gobert) to add more spacing late in games, especially in ...

He's by far the best player on a team that won at least 50 games and has homecourt advantage in round 1 of the playoffs. Also, based on the production and eye test, SGA has proven to be one of the top performers this season. What makes his MVP case even stronger is that OKC entered this year as the 2nd youngest squad in the NBA. They also play only 1 big man significant minutes on a consistent basis: an extremely thin rookie (Chet) with 0 postseason experience who anchors the worst rebounding team in the western conference. The Thunder are too thin, small, and young for me to see them as a legit championship contender which is why I think they have a round 2 ceiling. Their premier "3 and D" player (Dort) is only 6'4 so how do they contain formidable frontcourt scorers when the lights are brightest? J-Dub is OKC's second best scorer but he has never played in the playoffs as well. Even for Shai, this'll be his first time playing with the pressure of being the #...

West Starters BC - Edwards (Wolves) (Lock) BC - Gilgeous-Alexander (Thunder) (Lock) FC - Doncic (Mavs) (Lock) FC - Durant (Suns) (Lock) FC - Jokic (Nuggets) (Lock) Reserves BC - Fox (Kings) (Lock) BC - Booker (Suns) (Lock) FC - Leonard (Clippers) (Lock) FC - James (Lakers) (Lock) FC - Davis (Lakers) (Lock) WC - Curry (Warriors) (Lock) WC - George (Clippers) (Lock) East Starters BC - Maxey (Sixers) (Lock) BC - Haliburton (Pacers) (Lock) FC - Tatum (Celtics) (Lock) FC - Antetokounmpo (Bucks) (Lock) FC - Embiid (Sixers) (Lock) (MVP as of now) Reserves BC - Brunson (Knicks) (Lock) BC - Mitchell (Cavs) (Lock) FC - Brown (Celtics) (Lock) FC - Randle (Knicks) (Lock) FC - Adebayo (Heat) WC - Young (Hawks) (Lock) WC - Lillard (Bucks) (Lock) *Creating all-star and all-NBA teams is a great mental exercise for me. *They're based on (in this order): scoring production and talent (explained at the end), creating shots for others, rebounding and defense, team success. *I think at least 30 games p...

I think the Bucks win it all and beat Boston (the other contender I see in the east) in the conference finals. They basically have the A- version of Steph (Dame), Kobe (Khris), and Shaq (Giannis) which is a great balance of 3 level scoring that no other contender has. Milwaukee also has 3 proven bigs: Giannis, Lopez, and Portis. The first  2 are DPOY candidates and Portis has a good shot at winning sixth man of the year. Basketball favors taller players by a lot and this team is best suited to take advantage of that. Out west, the Lakers are my pick. AD is arguably the best and most versatile defensive player in the NBA and is an efficient big man who scores a lot near the rim without needing to be set up. Los Angeles added a quality big in Wood which they didn't have last year outside of Davis. They had solid off-season additions and I predict they'll continue their momentum from last season's all-star break. I give them the slightest edge over Denver, Phoenix, and the Cli...