Ten Things I Think
1. I think the situation facing the Arizona Cardinals this season feels a lot like the Philadelphia Eagles in 2016. Both teams had Sam Bradford and a rookie quarterback. In Philly’s case that was Carson Wentz; in the desert, they just recently drafted Josh Rosen. In 2016, the Vikings lost Teddy Bridgewater to a devastating leg injury and were all of a sudden in desperate need of a quarterback. The Eagles, after feeling comfortable with the manner in which Wentz progressed in training camp pulled the trigger sending Bradford to Minnesota for a first-round pick. I can envision a similar outcome for the Cardinals this season. I am not sure who, but there will be a team with playoff aspirations that loses their quarterback to injury prior to the start of the season. If the Cardinals are comfortable with what they have seen from Rosen at that point, perhaps, like the Eagles, they offload him for a first round pick next year and allow their rookie quarterback to take the field in Week 1.
2. I think Ben Simmons needs to work diligently on his jump shot this offseason. I am unsure if that means he should switch hands or instead if he needs to restart from ground zero, but something must change. Simmons did not attempt a single three-pointer this season that was not a half-court heave. It is one thing to shoot a lowly percentage, it is another thing entirely to not even have the confidence to let it rip, especially when the defense sags off in the manner that they defended Simmons. He doesn’t need to be a JJ Redick level shooter; he just needs to be competent so it forces opposing defenses to actually account for him when the ball isn’t in his hands. If the Australian native can become just below average, instead of one of the worst, Ben Simmons could easily be a top-ten player in the NBA next season.
3. I think Manny Machado will be traded sometime this season. The Orioles superstar is a free-agent after this year and Baltimore has already dug themselves too great of a hole to recover from. Some teams that I think might make some sense in dealing for Machado are the Dodgers and the Cubs. Los Angeles just recently lost their young star shortstop, Corey Seager, to Tommy John Surgery so they are in dire need of an adequate replacement and have the farm system to entice the Orioles front office. The Cubs also make some sense in that their farm system is loaded and they could use some another right-handed bat in their lineup alongside Kris Bryant. I am rather confident that Manny Machado won’t be donning orange and black come baseball’s trade deadline.
4. I think that LeBron James has only one flaw in his game: his free throw shooting. He is a career 74% free throw shooter which isn’t abysmal, but it could certainly be better. LeBron is dynamic as a scorer, rebounder, passer, and defender. He can dominate games in so many different ways – maybe in more ways than anyone in the history of the game. To say that shooting 74% from the charity stripe is his Achilles heel just demonstrates how phenomenal he is.
5. I think Arian Foster is the most interesting person in sports. The former NFL running back hosts his own podcast in which he has on guests from a wide array of fields. On recent episodes, Foster has had on an astronaut from NASA, Snoop Dog, a marine scientist, and Tony Hawk to name a few. The conversations are riveting and all encompassing. On top of his podcast venture, Foster recently released a musical album titled Flamingo and Koval under his stage name Bobby Feeno. I’m not all that into music, but he spent three years working on it and the reception it has received has been astoundingly positive. I wish there were more athletes like Arian Foster.
6. I think in a hypothetical NBA Draft, where the entire league was drafted anew, there would only be a handful of players that I would take before I took Brad Stevens. In the NBA for the longest time coaches were ostensibly babysitters. Yeah, they drew up plays, but the onus was on the players. Brad Stevens has turned that stereotype on its head. Outside of LeBron, KD, Steph, Harden, and Anthony Davis, I am not sure there is an individual that adds as much value to their respective team as Stevens does for Boston.
7. I think the Raptors should run it back. There will certainly be discussions about trading Kyle Lowry and/or DeMar DeRozan, but Toronto finished 59-23 this year. Yes, the Raptors ran into the brick wall that is LeBron James (for the third year in a row I might add), but they are right on the brink. If LeBron bolts for LA this summer as many suspect he might, you’re telling me the Raptors have no chance to make the Finals? Also, what’s the shame in winning 50-games and advancing in the postseason. Having a championship or bust mentality is admirable, but more times than not it leads to disappointment. The Raptors need to keep their core together.
8. I think that next year’s crop of quarterbacks is going to be pretty weak. I understand that there are very rarely five first round quarterbacks as there were this year, but next year’s quarterback group, to me, appears to be the weakest in quite some time. Some of the names that I have heard tossed around are just uninspiring – Jarrett Stidham, Drew Lock, and Ryan Finley among others. Perhaps NFL teams realized this as well and that caused those teams with a glaring need at the position to reach for their signal-caller of the future this year.
9. I think I have been waiting for Aaron Judge to regress to a league average hitter, but it doesn’t seem to be happening. The Yankees right fielder had a great season in 2017, but I wasn’t quite sold. He struck out more times than I’d like and relied too much on the long ball. I expected him to be a below average hitter who hit his share of home runs. Boy, was I mistaken. So far this season, Judge is batting .306 and appears to be on his way to another All-Star Game appearance. He hits the ball so hard that as long as he doesn’t strike out, there really isn’t much the defense can do other than say a prayer that they are not struck with one of his liners.
10. I think coaches and GMs have different incentive structures and thus should be positions held by two different people. Last week, the Detroit Pistons relieved Stan Van Gundy of both his coaching and front office responsibilities. Frankly, Van Gundy wasn’t effective, but very few would be with so much on their plate. As a coach, it is your job to win now. As a GM, you try to win now, but also must plan for the future. As a coach/GM, Van Gundy (and others in his position) do things such as trade away ample first round picks for help in the present. Yeah, they are helping the team now, but they are mortgaging away their future. Brad Stevens can be Brad Stevens because all he needs to focus on is coaching. The Stan Van Gundy’s and Tom Thibodeau’s of the world sacrifice some of their efficacy as a coach because they burning the candle at both ends. The two positions have typically been held by two individuals for a reason. It should stay that way.
