1. The Celtics and Thunder are going to be better than people think.

2. The Jazz might be a serious contender.

3. The Nets are going to be worse than people expect.

4. One of either the Bulls or Hawks would break out a bit and compete for a playoff spot.

5. The fit in Philly is poor.

Only the Chicago/Hawks one is in tough shape, but injuries have been a bit of a factor for the Nets, Hawks, and Bulls.

Makes sense that Horford could struggle based on fit, but if that’s the explanation, it also drives a stake through the heart of that undead argument about playing next to highly talented offensive players.

I think fit and teammates are partially independent factors.

Playing with better players will tend to free you up for better quality shots (off double teams etc..) and there might be higher quality assists coming your way too if you are playing with an elite play maker. But it’s partially dependent on the skill sets of the players being complimentary, having good coaching, and good basketball IQ to take advantage if it.

Also, if you used to be the #1 or #2 option on a bad team, you’ll probably be 3rd or 4th option on a really good team. That means you won’t be handling the ball as often and some of your own numbers may go down. The lower boxscore stats don’t mean you are paying worse. It means your role has changed. That’s fine, as long as the overall quality of what you are doing is higher. Maybe you are expending less energy on offense, so play higher energy better defense and raise your TS%.

I’m not sure there’s a magic formula that works in all situations for all players. The biggest thing is how damn good you are, but at the margin other things matter.

knox is the more fluid athlete and seems to have more vision and passing accuracy when he has time. doumbouya definitely has more functional strength and seems to have much better reaction reflexes. my bias is that those two traits are often what matter most and make doumbouya a much better prospect, even with a fine motor skill disadvantage. he wasn’t tearing it up in the g league tho.

Could be a Knick except for our shitty karma.

It’s a sign of where I am as a basketball fan that as soon as I saw the Griz scored 140 I raced to check Clarke’s (very mediocre) line.

Very happy about the Pats defeat.

clips gave up 140 to the grizz today…we might just maybe have a chance…