So…um…the Blazers?
Jack (@jackhaveitall): Yeah, I mean my goodness. This has gone far better than anyone was expecting. Even people who expected them to be decent couldn’t have seen this coming. They beat the Grizzlies by 19!
Ryne (@ryneprinz): Maybe they aren’t as bad as we thought they would be! Dame seems to have developed into quite the leader, and he’s shooting out of his mind right now. C.J. McCollum is hitting 46% of his threes! Even if they don’t continue to win games, they are so much fun to watch.
Ian (@IanDougherty) If you’ll allow me to get on my high horse for a moment, the records show I predicted C.J. McCollum as my MIP for the year. So, while I figured he would be awesome, I didn’t see the team getting off to such a hot start. This won’t hold, but they do deserve more credit than most people gave them in preseason.
Donnie (@donniebuckets): Meltdown against Detroit not included, this has been a great start. But attacking point guards are going to give the Blazers fits this year, and there have already been signs of that early.
Taylor (@TaylorBojangles): They’re well-coached and have a weird collection of athletic misfits. Add that to an inherent home court advantage and you’ve got a frisky bunch! They could snake the No. 8 seed if New Orleans and Dallas continue to struggle to get healthy, too.
Wes Goldberg (@wcgoldberg): I just want to say that on our Trail Blazers preview podcast I said they would be better than a lot of people originally thought. We knew Damian Lillard was cold blooded, but outside of him we weren’t sure where the contributions would come from. There are so many talented, young players on this team that odds are someone was going to breakout. Cue C.J. McCollum and his three-point shooting glory.
Zach Oliver (@ZachOliverNBA): I, for one, am shocked. I said on the Trail Blazers preview podcast I thought they’d be horrible. Sure, there’s still issues, but they’re doing a lot of things well, and their backcourt is going to keep carrying them in the short term. I think they’ll need to find more balance if they want to hold up the success, but, they’ve got some potential to continue to be really fun.
Matt (@Matt_Cianfrone): When I watched them in their opener I just figured it was a product of the Pelicans defense being an absolute tire fire. Turns out it was more than that. I don’t think they are this good but they should hang around and be a difficult game most nights. That is a huge step up from what I expected.
Will the Pelicans ever win a game?
Jack: Well… it hard to say. I mean, no team has ever gone winless, so I guess they’ll probably win one eventually. It might not be until they have their #FullSquad, though.
Ryne: Ish Smith and Luke Babbitt are playing the fourth most minutes for them right now. They are so banged up, and Anthony Davis can only do so much at this point in his career. They’ll probably get at least one win by the end of the year … maybe.
Ian: I was sure they were going to win the game versus the Hawks when AD dropped 43, but Atlanta outlasted them. Due to their lack of health, and adjusting to a new coach, they look really bad right now. But, their next game is versus the lowly Dallas Mavericks, so they might be able to win that one.
Donnie: How lucky is this team that no one is running away with the last two spots in the West this year? Davis’s talent will shine at some point. Perhaps when he is surrounded by actual NBA players on a regular basis.
Taylor: The people already whining about Alvin Gentry need to get a look at what he’s working with. The fact that Kendrick Perkins actually seems like a tangible loss at the moment shows how incredibly bereft of real talent they are. But to answer the question, nah.
Wes: I don’t know. I just hate seeing Norris Cole being subjected to this.
Zach: I ripped into them last week, be it fair or not. There’s issues, and if they can’t find ways to use Anthony Davis to his full potential, the losses will keep piling up. They’ll win, but it could be a while.
Matt: Yes but only because the schedule is nice coming up. They may get a win tonight against the Mavs and if not they have Denver and the Knicks coming up. If they can’t get one of those three though it could be a while.
How many MVPs is Kristaps Porzingis going to win?
Jack: Let’s see. He’s 20 years old right now, and say he plays until he’s in his mid-30s. I think somewhere between 12-15 sounds about right.
Ryne: Realistically? 26.
Ian: The NBA gives out 4 MVP awards per year (For the season, the Finals, the player’s choice, and the All-Star Game). Porzingis has a game that looks to age fairly well, so let’s say he plays 18 years. Assuming he wins every MVP for every year (because duh), that would give him 74. Add in 2 Rookie/Sophomore Challenge awards (1 for each year he’s eligible to play), and that would give him 76 for his career, total. I think that’s a good rough estimate.
Donnie: This year? Probably two.
Taylor: Most Valuable Porzingis? No reason to believe he can’t win that in perpetuity.
Wes: It doesn’t matter. Porzingis is going to transcend your silly human awards and win awards you’ve never even heard of. Keep your MVPs, Porzingis has bigger things in mind.
Zach: Psh. MVP doesn’t mean anything to him. He wants the real deal championships.
Matt: 0. Because Mario Hezonja is going to win them all. And he will remember when you non-believers try and pretend you predicted it. Super Mario never forgets.