Hardwood Paroxysm Presents: Our favorite moments and players from NBA Preseason

With the NBA’s regular season getting started on Tuesday night, the preseason action is winding down. Of course it is just preseason, but there were still plenty of dunks, passes, and players to remember. So let us proudly present our favorite moments and players from NBA Preseason. 

The Marcelo Huertas Debut

By: Kirk (@KirkSeriousFace)

For the longest time I’ve been a Marcelo Huertas fan boy. The 32 year old Brazilian point guard has long held my attention with his fearless style which occasionally flirted with recklessness. A brilliant passer with strong shot making ability, Huertas seemed a strong candidate to make it in the NBA, after a decade in the Spanish ACB league.

Yet in free agency, no reported offers arose, save one non-guaranteed deal from the Los Angeles Lakers. A hamstring injury and visa issues meant no pre-season opportunities to shine outside of practice.

Finally, on Saturday in the second quarter against the Warriors, Huertas proved that he belongs in the NBA. His unorthodox game (think Steve Nash paired with Pablo Prigioni) resulted in six assists in the quarter to go along with a pair of absurd 15 foot, bank shot floaters from the left side of the floor. It’s the kind of shot that makes basketball purists cringe, and yet, it goes in.

The Lakers may not be very good this year, but Huertas is another component that will make them a lot of fun to watch in a wild Western Conference.

THE Larry Nance Jr. Dunk

by Ian Levy (@HickoryHigh)

There are dunks and there are Dunks, and then there are DUNKS. What Larry Nance Jr. did to Festus Ezeli deserves to be in all caps, bolded, 18 pt. Helvetica (if WordPress would allow it). It was the kind of dunk that would leave Dick Vitale speechless and Tom Thibodeau babbling incessantly, a rousing, thunderous application to be heard as a professional basketball player. As far as I’m concerned, they could have shut down the entire NBA preseason right then and there, with 5:56 left in third quarter. I mean, really, what else was there to say or do?

This, unfortunately, may be the season highlight for Nance. He’s played just 55 minutes across five preseason games, a rate which usually translates to zero point zero in the regular season. He can play both forward spots but sits behind Julius Randle, Brandon Bass, Metta World Peace and Kobe Bryant (in Russell/Clarkson/Bryant combo lineups) on the depth chart. Not for lack of dunkability, but Nance may find himself chained to the bench for much of this season. Which is a shame if he can make highlights like this on the regular.

Whatever happens once the real games start, we’ll always have the memory of this moment and this volcanic dunk.

He is Larry Nance Jr. and he comes back to you now, at the turn of the tide.

The Emergence of Rashad Vaughn

By: Kaveh Jam (@KavehsRoom)

I don’t even know what emergence means. It feels like some weird esoteric way to just say hey keep your eye’s peeled, it’s coming – or in the world of projections, a way to spot a trend and conclude the likeliness of something taking form. In the NBA, being able to predict these things can help you keep your front office job.

One fun practice is evaluating and predicting how draft picks pan out. Rashad Vaughn is easily forgotten in the crop of incoming NBA rookies. But so far in four preseason games for the Milwaukee Bucks, he’s scoring 14 points per game while shooting almost 46 percent from the field and 38 percent from three-point range – averages that surpass other notable shooters (and lottery picks) like D’Angelo Russell, Kristaps Porzingis, and Mario Hezonja. Vaughn is shooting these percentages while actually connecting on two threes a game. In a league where shooting is arguably the most invaluable asset a perimeter player could have, Vaughn is a sniper.

Some quick facts on Vaughn: he was chosen 17th in the June draft from UNLV. He’s the second youngest player from that draft. Has terrific size at 6-foot-6, 202 pounds, and has an aesthetically and mechanically effortless jumper – impressive for a player his age, and who logged just 23 collegiate games prior to arriving in the NBA. Some aspects of his game and physical frame compare favorably to Bradley Beal during his lone season at Florida.

Vaughn has an incredible nose for scoring in a variety of ways. En route to a 20-point preseason debut against the Bulls, he unveiled his silky jumper in the form of spot-ups, step backs, and isolation plays. It’s not just the versatility in his shots that is impressive, but how he’s able to free himself – sometimes zipping backdoor, or one dribble for proper rhythm – to get his shot off. In a 19-point outing during a win over the Cavaliers, he surprised by displaying shrewd footwork to create space. He excels in getting the defense off balance just enough to release his shot at its apex.

As another talented addition to the Bucks roster, Vaughn sets Milwaukee up as one of the most youthful and burgeoning teams in the league. For now, he’s behind several guys on the depth chart, but if his preseason is any indication, his impact will be felt – perhaps sooner than later. The Bucks are equipped with pieces that place them among the elite defensive squads, but their offense drags behind by a considerable margin, which could accelerate the need to develop an outside shooter like Vaughn.

Pegged as the 18th best prospect on ESPN’s draft board, his talent did not go completely unnoticed. His preseason so far has validated the value the Bucks were hoping to get – a shrewd coup for Milwaukee and an emerging talent for the NBA.    

Shabazz Napier’s Preseason Revenge Tour

By: Philip Rossman-Reich (@OMagicDaily)

I do not particularly like Shabazz Napier. He scores in bunches in the way that would have made him a popular player in the early 2000s: lots of dribbling and setting up his own shot. It’s the kind of play that puts up a lot of raw stats but rarely gets the analytics crowd excited.

His style of play has gone out of vogue. And not even LeBron James’ seemingly ringing endorsement was enough to save him.

Preseason affords a chance for players like Napier to put up numbers once again. It may not be in the way that will help them make a roster, but it is enough to get his name written in an AP bot’s recap of a meaningless preseason game.

Napier got two chances to face the Miami Heat. And he burned them on both turns.

There was the Magic’s 100-97 win over the Heat in Louisville where Napier hit the game-winning basket in front of virtually nobody.

But it was a game-winner and that got plenty of people excited about his potential “clutchness” even though if he ever sees time in a close game this season something must have gone horribly wrong for the Magic.

There had to be some measure of satisfaction from Napier, right?

Then he did it again.

Never mind that he shot 3 for 10, Napier drew a foul on a 3-pointer in overtime and iced an overtime win for the Magic over the Heat. Ignore the fact that all the Heat’s starters sat out the game and that it was an overtime preseason game which is just the worst.

Napier got some satisfaction in the end from winning in front of “his vets” as he called them.

It is still unclear how much playing time the two-time NCAA national champion will get with the Magic. He is essentially their third point guard, and that does not promise a whole ton of minutes.

So for a few moments, in front of his former teammates, Napier had his NBA moment. 

Josh McRoberts’ Between The Legs Assist

By: Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg)

The second quarter was just a couple minutes old, and the Miami Heat had their second unit in. That includes Josh McRoberts, the lion-maned power forward that will be such an important part of Erik Spoelstra’s bench.

And there he was, getting the ball on the right elbow in a HORNS set. His hands on the ball trigger a series of off-ball movement by his teammates. Greg Whittington, a final roster long shot, sets the screen at the opposite elbow for rookie Justise Winslow. McRoberts dribbles and drifts to his left, stopping at the free throw line as Winslow stops behind him.

This play was designed for a dribble handoff to Winslow–who would drive to the rim with the option of kicking out to either Mario Chalmers or Gerald Green in the corners–but the former Blue Devil lost his man and McRoberts, recognizing this, got him the ball with a bounce pass.

Did he have to go between the legs?

Probably not.

Was it cool?

Hellz yeah.

And so Winslow caught the ball as he stopped in space to take the jumper. Swish. McRoberts, while never really looking at Winslow, saw all of this unfold and got the ball to his teammate in the best position possible, leading to a wide open shot and two points for the Heat.

It’s these sort of things that make basketball fans like me giddy with excitement, and the sort of thing McRoberts will do a lot more often this season.

Jerian Grant is That New Ish (not Smith)

By: Brian Schroeder (@Cosmis)

Karl-Anthony Towns aside, Jerian Grant was my favorite prospect in the 2015 draft, and possibly in the last few years in total. There are several reasons for this, chiefly that he’s a tall, long-armed point guard who can defend, pass, and operate in transition. That’s the template for a lot of my favorite players (Shaun Livingston among them).

Unlike some taller point guards who shall not be named, but might have won a Rookie of the Year award recently, he actually *uses* his height, instead of letting the Jameer Nelsons of the world push him out of the paint to take terrible fadeaways. Secondly, his actual given name is Holdyn, which is close enough to DeAndre Jordan’s given name (Hyland) that it makes me smile and think good thoughts.

Most importantly, he’s REALLY good, and will almost certainly being running the show in New York soon. He may not ever be a star, but his floor is supremely high, and AT WORST he’ll be an extraordinary backup point. The Knicks stole him, as far as I’m concerned. Now all we need to worry about is making sure people know how to pronounce his name. It’s “Jair-an.” The i is silent.

He’s the son of a former NBA player, the brother of a current NBA player, went to a high-profile school and played deep into the NCAA tournament. If you’re still pronouncing Jerian incorrectly, it’s because you haven’t watched him play. You don’t know what you’re missing.

Ryan Kelly with the PIZZA

By Quinten Rosborough (@QRosborough)

I’ve been watching high school basketball mixtapes for nearly a decade now, and over the course of those 10 years I’ve picked up some pretty dope slang, my favorite being the “Pizza.” For whatever reason, any time a player would dunk on an unsuspecting defender, the YouTube description would call it a pizza. It never really made all that much sense (“Tajai Johnson serves a NASTY PIZZA at the NorCal Clash!!!” or “Jabari Brown Serves a PIZZA for MLK Day!!! Poster Dunk on Dude!!!” ), but it was prevalent, and it was silly, so I stored it away in my database of colloquialisms.

A Pizza is exactly what Ryan Kelly served up on Noah Vonleh on Monday night. With the game tied at 102 a piece and 4.2 seconds left on the clock, Kelly got the ball at the top of the key, faked the handoff to Jordan Clarkson, and drove hard to the rim, finishing strong over Portland Trail Blazers forward Noah Vonleh. A lesser basketball player certainly would have settled for the floater here, but this legend? Nah, he went hard to the tin, and served up a hot one right on top of Noah Vonleh’s head.

My favorite things about this sequence:

• Just look at that hair. Watch it wave in slow motion as he drives to the rim. As the kids used to say in high school, 90 percent of lax is in the flow, and Kelly used every tress of his hair to complete this play.
• Look at how not into this play D’angelo Russell is. Like many aspects of his game, his on-court enthusiasm is still at a Big 10 level. This is the big leagues, my guy. It’s okay to show a little emotion.
• Finally, its not a Laker game until the camera pans to a terribly dressed Laker fan. Ryan Kelly wasn’t the only one passing up a layup on this play — the Time Warner Sportsnet cameraman could have easily called it a day once he found this dude with the Russell Westbrook glasses and a keychain full of Amiibos hanging around his neck, but no —  he finished strong with authority by cutting back to this  Father-Son vestiary combo. That’s what I like to call continuation.

It Had to Be You

By: Daniel Rowell (@danieljrowell)

It’s been a lonely and sad preseason watching the Cavaliers without Tristan. I was all ready to pen a year without Tristan story. But then, something wonderful happened.

(Tristan in the late afternoon is hanging and playing 2K at LeBron’s house.)

LeBron: Come on Tee, stay, please.

Tristan: Thanks Bron, I just, I just have to go, I’m sorry.

LeBron: Oh just stay for one more game, I won’t play as the Warriors this time, I promise.

Tristan: I’ll see you tomorrow.

(Tristan turns to walk to his car but finds David Griffin standing in the doorway, leaning over and gasping for air.)

Lebron: Wait, Griff? What you doing here? Did you RUN here from Cleveland?

Griffin: I’ve been doing a lot of thinking, Tristan. And the thing is, I love you.

Tristan: Wait, what?

Griffin: I mean, I’d love… to sign you.

Tristan: (Looking down to his phone) How am I even supposed to respond to this?

Griffin: How about, you… you’d love to be a Cavalier?

Tristan: Forget this, man, I’m leaving. I’m a top-five power forward in this league and you should pay me like one.

Griffin: Doesn’t what I just said mean anything to you, Tristan?

Tristan: I’m sorry David, I know it’s a week until the season starts, I know your lineup is looking lonely with Kyrie and Shump out, but you can’t just shoot up here, tell me you want me back, and expect that to make everything alright. I mean the CBA just doesn’t work that way.

Griffin: Well how does it work then, Tee?

Tristan: I don’t know, something with an offer sheet and and a max percentage of the cap, but not like this. Can’t you just call Rich?

Griffin: Well how about we do it this way. I love that you get more offensive rebounds than Moz and Love combined. I love that it took you 22 years to figure out that you are actually right handed. I love that you never get injured, like ever. Like seriously, 3 straight 82 game seasons. I love that after we play the Raptors I can always can smell the Tim Horton’s from your locker.

And I love that you are the last person I want to defend a perimeter player in clutch situations. And it’s not because our backup power forward has a medical history longer than my Grey’s Anatomy box set. And it’s not because it’s a week until the season starts. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of Dan Gilbert’s money on somebody, you want that somebody to start ahead of Andy as soon as possible.

Tristan: You see, that is just like you, David. You say things like that and you make it impossible for me to hate you and go sign with the Blazers. And I hate you David… I really hate you. I hate you.

(They embrace and sign a 5 year, $82 million contract).

Tristan: But we have to talk about those alternates tho.

The Rise of C.J. McCollum

By Bryan Toporek (@btoporek)

The C.J. McCollum hype train left the station during last spring’s playoffs, when he averaged 25.7 points on a preposterous 60.9 percent shooting in the Portland Trail Blazers’ final three first-round games against the Memphis Grizzlies. When Portland lost four of its five starters this offseason and opted to reload with young, high-upside prospects, the Lehigh product’s bandwagon continued to rapidly expand.

For McCollum’s remaining skeptics out there, this preseason has not been your finest hour.

Through the Blazers’ first six preseason tilts, the rising third-year guard averaged 17.7 points on 41.8 percent shooting, 4.5 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 2.2 treys in 29.8 minutes per game. He’s currently second on the team in points, minutes and triples, trailing only Damian Lillard in each category, and he’s tied with Lillard for the team lead in helpers.

McCollum’s shooting consistency has waxed and waned throughout the preseason—he’ll go from shooting 11-of-20 one night to 6-of-21 the next—but he appears to have a permanent green light from head coach Terry Stotts. With the Blazers holding no reasonable expectations of a playoff berth in Year 1 of the post-LaMarcus Aldridge era, they’ve (rightfully) decided to see which of the young players on their roster project as long-term building blocks.

With two 25-plus-point performances under his belt through six preseason contests, McCollum is certainly trending in the right direction. Though the fantasy basketball community has been salivating over the combo guard throughout the offseason, weeping as each explosive preseason performance pushes his average draft position higher, casual NBA fans should take notice, too. Lillard isn’t the only guard on the rebuilding Blazers worth paying attention to.