The Whiteboard: Rivalries, memes and NBA Play-In Predictions

The Big Three: Meme rivalries, Klay's future and Play-In Predictions

1. What’s the better meme analogy to understand the “rivalry” between the Lakers and Nuggets — Don Draper’s “” or the

Nevin Brown: For me, it’s the three-headed dragon meme. Not to go all Merriam Webster on Laker fans, but the definition of rival is “to be or seem to be equal or comparable to.” The Nuggets have won eight straight games against the Lakers. It’s not really a rivalry if one team isn’t a rival, and the Lakers don’t seem to be equal or comparable to the Nuggets. Chances are the Nuggets are far more worried about the actual good teams in the Western Conference, but it is cute that the Lakers think they’re in that conversation.

Lior Lampert: Lions don’t concern themselves with the opinion of sheep. Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets are the big cats of the jungle, and the Los Angeles Lakers are merely prey until the latter can put the former in an uncomfortable position in a best-of-seven playoff series.

As much as the Lakers would like to think they intimidate the Nuggets, like Don Draper, Jokic doesn’t think about them.

Zach Rotman: Nevin took the words right out of my mouth. This is not a rivalry, it’s a matchup featuring one Western Conference opponent who wants to be the other. The Lakers have championship aspirations in their own minds, but from everything we’ve seen with this team, they don’t stand a chance against the true title contenders who happen to be coming off of a championship themselves. LeBron might be good enough to steal one game, but this won’t be a competitive series. The Nuggets have other scary dragons to worry about. The Lakers are certainly not one of them.

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2. Next season, Klay Thompson will be firing up big-game bricks for the __________.

Nevin Brown: The only answer should be the Warriors, but if Thompson were to leave the bay, the most likely relocation spot for Klay Masonry would be Detroit. The Pistons are projected to have over $70 million in cap space this summer, and the only reason for Thompson to leave the Warriors is over money. On top of that, the Pistons are a poorly run desperate franchise in dire need of 3-point shooting. Throw in Monty Williams not trusting anyone who can’t rent a car, and the 34-year-old Thompson is the perfect imperfect mason to get their rebuild back on track.

Lior Lampert: While there has been buzz surrounding Klay Thompson potentially signing with the Orlando Magic this offseason, it is hard to envision him in a uniform other than that of the Golden State Warriors. While it would be fun to see him be to Orlando what Fred VanVleet was to the Houston Rockets in his first year with the team (a proven veteran with championship experience who also fills a massive need on the roster), my guess is he finishes what he started in the Bay Area. He may not be the elite two-way wing he once was, but he can still contribute to winning as someone who averaged 17.9 points per game while shooting 38.7 percent from beyond the arc on nine nightly attempts.

Zach Rotman: As fun as it would be to see Klay make his mark on a young team on the rise, it’s just impossible to envision him leaving the Golden State Warriors. He wants to stay, his teammates want him to stay, his coach wants him to stay, and even the front office wants him to stay, even if it’s not for the money Klay is going to be asking for. Whether they get Klay to take less or have to succumb to his demands, Thompson is going to retire a Warrior and a Warrior only.

3. Which two teams win tonight to nab the No. 8 seeds in each Conference?

Nevin: The Kings and the Bulls for the simple reason that their best players aren’t injured. If Jimmy Butler and Zion Williamson were healthy, I’d easily take the Pelicans and Heat. This is why you don’t mess around in the regular season and fight to the very end to avoid the play-in.

Lior Lampert: Zion Williamson being out for tonight is a massive bummer for the New Orleans Pelicans and basketball fans alike. But the Sacramento Kings also have their fair share of substantial absences, like Sixth Man of the Year candidate Malik Monk and sharpshooting guard Kevin Huerter. The Pels still have enough talent to win this. But the Kings have the two best players (De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis) in this win-or-go-home matchup and a more vetted coach with championship pedigree. So, we should be lighting the beam in the Smoothie King Center on Thursday night!

And in the Eastern Conference play-in meeting, the absence of Jimmy Butler will be too much to overcome for the Miami Heat against the DeMar DeRozan, Coby White, and the Chicago Bulls. The Heat sleepwalking through the regular season will finally come back to haunt them, and an upset is brewing in South Beach, especially if Coby White can even come close to replicating his 42-point masterclass from Wednesday versus the Atlanta Hawks. However, the status of Bulls defensive stopper Alex Caruso will be critical to monitor ahead of the game.

Zach Rotman: The Pelicans will not be able to overcome the loss of Zion Williamson. We saw just how dominant he was in their first Play-In Game and their season came to an end when he had to depart with injury. Sacramento will have the two best players in the game in De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis, and they’ll be too much for New Orleans to overcome.

In the Eastern Conference, I just have a sneaky suspicion that the Miami Heat will find a way. It might be illogical to pick them without Jimmy Butler when the Bulls have star power with guys like DeMar DeRozan and Coby White, but this just feels like the type of game where Tyler Herro drops 30+ and they get random breakout performances from a guy like Delon Wright or Haywood Highsmith. Let’s not forget Bam Adebayo is healthy too. Heat Culture will find a way against Chicago.

Recommended Reading:

1. The new-look Nuggets bench: "If you’re grasping for a reason to doubt the defending champs, look no further than my initial question about their depth. Brown and Jeff Green are gone. Christian Braun, Reggie Jackson, and Peyton Watson are now the main reserves who round out Malone’s eight-man rotation, with Justin Holiday possibly sprinkled into the mix. If some more frontcourt options are necessary, should Gordon or Jokic find themselves in foul trouble, DeAndre Jordan or Zeke Nnaji is available." The 13 Biggest Questions of the NBA’s First Round

2. Erik Spoelstra is playing 3-D chess, against himself?: "More broadly though, it makes sense to employ this strategy. Teams build their strategies for the playoffs on intense scouting based on what their opponents did during the regular season, and what they've shown they are capable of doing with the personnel they have on the roster if someone has stood out from their previous matchups spanning a couple of seasons." Delon Wright and the art of not making adjustments on purpose

3. Jontay Porter, NBA gambler extraordinaire: "Porter’s gambling proclivity didn’t arise out of the blue. He began investing in cryptocurrencies in college. He has operated a social media account sharing stock and crypto trading tips since September 2020, claiming to be the cofounder of a swing trading advice service and community—the kind of get-rich-quick echo chambers on Discord that have become a dime a dozen since the early days of the pandemic, exploding in popularity after the fabled short squeeze on GameStop stock. (Porter once tweeted about the service from his main account, two days after the initial GameStop short squeeze happened on January 22, 2021.)" The Twisted Irony of the Jontay Porter Scandal