NBA’s biggest surprises so far: Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons | NBA on NBC

NBA’s biggest surprises so far: Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons | NBA on NBC

All right, fellas. Let’s talk about our biggest surprises so far as we kind of hit that quarter point of the season. Kurt, who’s your biggest surprise so far this season? So, Miami Heat. I I thought they were going to be okay. They they punch above their weight because they’re the Heat, but I didn’t expect a this radical offensive shift that that, you know, has gotten so much discussion from Eric Bolster and made him a may maybe he finally wins coach of the year. Um, I didn’t think it was going to take like this. And the other thing is that they’re playing really good defense. They are a top 10 defensive team. They are playing it on both ends. And I really just thought they’d be okay and in the middle of the pack and out in the first round of the playin and they look a they might be the most entertaining team to watch in the league right now. And b they’re just genuinely good in an east that’s especially wide open. It’s suddenly why not the Heat. Grant that his the the coaching job that Spo has done this year, like there are other great candidates for coach of the year, but for Eric Spolstra last off season to just abandon his entire offensive philosophy and go with the Noah Lar Ro offense while Noah Lar Ro is basically at bottom of his, you know, appeal across the league as what happened with Memphis as a front office guy. That that’s that has to be impressive. It’s incredibly impressive. And you have to remember for coaches especially, you know, it’s such a job that’s there’s so much pressure on that job, right? Everyone’s coming at you. Everyone’s judging every mistake or every move you make, every decision you do. And to be able to switch it up like that, to have the confidence to do that while being named Team USA head coach, you know, it’s just it just shows how good of a coach he is. He’s always been one of the best coaches in the league since he even started out. And I for me, I look at him in the same way like Greg Papovich did the same thing with San Antonio. that was one of the most boring offenses in the league. And then all of a sudden they’re like, “Oh, look at the beauty of passing that the San Antonio Spurs are showing.” And so, uh, Spose has been amazing. And to your point, I think one of the most underrated under the radar trades that was made as Norman Pal in the offseason. Um, that was just just like that, he’s guy who’s an all-star and it’s just they got him for nothing. So, could the Clippers use him? I think the Clippers could use him. And then also the other thing is, you know, you’re you’re talking about a team that Tyler Herro hasn’t played for most of the time. Um the style of offense they’ve been playing was uh you know very you know communism socialism no one touches the ball more than this egalitarian is a better way of saying it less political and uh hero is here now and he’s you know going to have to incorporate into that but so far so good. All right so not the only big surprise not the only big surprise in the Eastern Conference. Who do you got for your biggest surprise? I mean, the Toronto Raptors have been so impressive so far this season. And you start wondering when you, you know, everyone saw when the Brandon Ingram trade happened and they’ve they’ve kind of underperformed for a couple of years now, and then Ingram comes and they’re like, “Oh, it’s just more of the same. You’re getting a guy who, you know, not always healthy, but also just a mid-range guy, blah blah blah blah blah.” Well, guess what? That mid-range and that that paint touching it, it’s actually working. Yeah. And, you know, they’re scoring. They have one of the least uh their offense is least based around the three-point shot, but Emanuel Quickley is starting to hit on on the cylinders that they wanted him to. Scotty Barnes is just is has so much talent. And then just Ingram and the and the whole crew like RJ Barrett, they’re using their length. They’re defensively really playing well. Um I I just I’m just so impressed with how hard they’ve played. Now, keep in mind, their main three players have been healthy for most of the season so far, or all of the season so far. A lot of teams are being decimated by injuries, and that’s been some of the the hiccups they’ve had. But for them to be this good, um I I think they’re actually using their pieces the right way right now. Do you look at them, and this isn’t a trade conversation, but do you look at them as a big swing contender right now? Because they are just answer they are like they’re young, right? They they don’t feel young sometimes because Quickley has been around forever. Barnes’s been around for a few years. Brandon Angler’s been around for a few years, but like you look at that team and they’re right in the thick of the Eastern Conference race. You think they’re 100% there. Bobby Webster and that group, they they they’re aggressive. They when they see something they want, they didn’t have to go get Brandon Ingram last year. They were not a good team and they said they saw an opportunity. They went and got Brandon Ingram. They gave up a first for him and that was a bad team last year, right? They’re aggressive and they also have the contracts to make things work. The only thing that’s going against them is a lot of these contracts are multiple years and teams usually when they’re giving up a star don’t want to take back a multi-year contract. But in general though, yeah, no, Toronto is actually one of the first teams. The minute I saw Anthony Davis’ name being thrown around, I was like, what’s Toronto gonna look into this? That’s uh they’re always they’re big fish hunting. You think they’re a big trade away from being a real threat? I wonder though if you’re messing with the chemistry because I was like most of you. I’m like they’re just kind of the island of misfit toys, right? Like I don’t know how this is all going to fit together. Except it has worked. Brandon Ingram’s taken a third of his shots between the paint and the arc and he’s hitting 49% of them which is I would say unsustainable but kind of how he’s made his living, right? He’s old school. He’s an old school player. And I’m afraid like I would you look I would look for the big swings but is Anthony Davis for example. Is that really the answer or are you just messing with the chemistry? If you’re bringing somebody in, I’ve got to feel that he’s really going to fit and make them better. And so I think they’re going to be tentative. Again, you’re in a wide openen east. How big a risk are you willing to take? Well, it’s the whole, you know, Desmond Bane trade philosophy. You are in the East and if you’re in the East, you can take a big swing and maybe win the conference with a player that, you know, maybe wouldn’t make sense if you were playing in the Western Conference. I I agree with you guys. I think they are, you know, a thrill threat to make a deal. My team doesn’t need to make a deal. The Detroit Pistons sitting at the top of the Eastern Conference as we tape this, having made the leap, the 30- win improvement last year, now they’re sitting on top of the East. Kate Cunningham is an absolute stud. I took so much stick, guys, at the start of the season when I had Kade Cunningham as a top 10 player in the NBA in my top 100. People were like, “No way. He’s not there yet.” He’s right there. He is a top 10 player in this league. a fourth quarter bucket getter for this team. No doubt about it. Um the veterans they brought in have worked. Duncan Robinson is a real three-point threat uh for this team. And they have become a player development machine, right? Like all these young guys keep taking steps forward. Jaylen Durren, candidate for most improved. I thought that guy was going to be like Steven Adams 2.0, you know, over the first few years. He’s turned into a much better version uh than all that. Ron Holland is stepping up. Uh Oscar Thompson is stepping up. They got a whole bunch of young guys that are good and are getting better in real time. That team right now the front runner to me to win the Eastern Conference. You know what’s funny about it is actually they’re only two wins ahead of the Raptors in the win column, right? And they actually play a similar style of basketball. They’re actually, if you look at the stats, the the way they play defense and the the way they run their offense, they’re playing in the paint. They’re not shooting threes. They’re really Yeah. And they and they really they make you feel them, right? and the leaps that these guys have made. I thought they were gonna be good. I I would never have predicted they’re gonna be this good, but now you watch them and it’s real, right? The this not some fake that like when you watch them play, it’s real. The question is at what point do they take that leap and say, “Hey, if we see a star, do we add him now or do we keep waiting for this to build remarketing?” Well, then no, but that’s the point. And but we’ll get into this, but I I’m just going to throw Anthony Davis’s name out there right now. I’m not saying it’s the right move. I’m not But like at what point do you say, “Hey, listen. We have Jaden Ivy. We don’t technically need him right now. Maybe there’s a team that’s interesting guy in Detroit, too, Jaden Ivy. A lot of people love him. Maybe a lot of people not so sure, right? So like there are pieces and and unlike I was saying the Raptors, they have contracts. They have an expiring Tobias Harris. They have other contracts. they have those mid-tier contracts that build. So, a market in or those guys like at what point do you just say, “Hey, the East is open.” Because there are plenty of teams like OKC did this right. They said, “I’m not making a move. I’m literally just going to keep building.” They could have made a move two years ago and they didn’t. They ke they stood pat. So, I’m not saying I’m not selling them they have to, but like I wouldn’t sleep on the Detroit Pistons for getting in there, too. Well, Kurt, they they in a way they should because like if I’m looking at the one weakness in the playoffs that they’re not deep on three-point shooters. Like, you know, Duncan Robinson is kind of the guy in that mix. They’re in the bottom of the league in terms of three-pointers made. Now, they’re in good company. Like, the Lakers are at the bottom, the Rockets are at the bottom. So, it’s not like that’s a terrible place to be, but you know, another floor spacer might do well might do them well. floor spacer and shot creator because when we get to the playoffs as we’ve seen with Milwaukee and other teams in the past, Milwaukee wins the one year they’ve got Chris Middleton playing like an all-star allNBA player and they’ve got more shot Drew Holiday, they they got more shot creation. If I get to the playoffs and I can load up on Cade, as great as top 10 a player as Kade is, damn right. Um, if I can load up on him and make somebody else beat me, who’s that guy? Lowry is that guy. That’s it sounds it’s he’s a great fit and he doesn’t mess with the other thing I’ve loved about them which beef stew is leading that team defends. That’s where they use that physicality. They are a very good defensive team and that’s going to carry them deep in the playoffs. Yeah. Usually when a team when a guy’s playing for a bad team and he’s on a big contract you go you start having some hesitations for Lowry you go like all right he’s on a team he gets as many shots he’s the way that guy plays I have no concerns about him going to a team and producing. everywhere. Like Will Hardy was telling me this the other day like he just any way you want to play he fits. And there is not a team in the league that would not be significantly better with Lowry Markin. There are teams that if you put I’m just I’m using his name again. Anthony Davis I wouldn’t necess there’s a few teams that’s just not the perfect fit for them. Lowry Markin makes every team better. It’s crazy how that works. Now could you argue that that contract may not end up being favorable in the end? I don’t know. Maybe. What do you have to give up? You know the anges like a lot to move anybody. So I don’t know all that. All I’m saying is if there is a perfect fit like you guys are saying Larry Markin on that team

Chris Mannix, Kurt Helin and Grant Liffmann run through their biggest surprises through the first quarter of the NBA season, including the Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, and Detroit Pistons. #NBCSports #NBAonNBC #MiamiHeat #DetroitPistons
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NBA’s biggest surprises so far: Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors, Detroit Pistons | NBA on NBC
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