Numbers on the Board runs through teams they believe are poised to take the next step in the NBA, highlighting the Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Hornets, and Washington Wizards.
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this one is from AG versus the World.
he said, “Barring injuries, what upcoming teams can y’all see making a jump to the next step?
for example, Utah making the play-in.”
Yeah, it’s a good question, ’cause usually around this time in March, you see like a, a not so great team start to turn it up.
You’re like, ooh, they could t- they could turn that to next season.
Yeah.
And that ain’t really happening right now across the hoops, unless you’re really looking at the Charlotte Hornets- That Hornets team and saying they’re gonna go from a play-in team to a top four seed obviously.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I, I That was the first team that I thought of.
Just if they woulda had kinda started the season off like this, they’d probably be in a way better spot.
Mm-hmm.
But, you know, you, it takes steps.
It takes steps, and this is definitely a season you build off of.
And the roster can on- only really get better kinda seeing what you have now.
I think beforehand, you had LaMelo, you had B.
Mills, and you had a little bit of stuff, but you didn’t really know what was concrete.
Now they got a lot.
They really know what they need to improve on and what they need to go out there and get in the off-season.
I think that’s a good answer.
I’m gonna go on the opposite side, in the Western Conference, and me and Derek’s, well, my Portland Trail Blazers.
I look at the p- the Trail Blazers, and I think if they have a fully healthy team, next year they’re gonna be able to come in and do some things.
I think they have some defensive structure.
I think they have some scoring.
They have some youth.
They have some veteran, leadership.
And then when Dame comes back, I think it’ll just tie in all together and they could be a really, really surprising team next year.
Talk about Dame, Drew, Toumani, Donovan Clingan, Shaedon Sharp.
Deni wasn’t all stu- Like, they, they got some stuff going on over there, so I’m, I’m very excited to see how that’ll look next year.
That’s a good pick, ’cause they also just got moves to potentially make, whatever that may look like.
Yeah.
What about- Just Da- Dame being back is just good for the league, so I just can’t wait for that.
Can The Mavericks get there?
Um- Kyrie Irving, we still don’t know what’s gonna happen.
He probably maybe get traded.
I think since they traded Anthony Davis, I think that window for me has kinda dwindled a little bit, but there is a chance.
I guess Cooper Flagg probably has another jump.
You would expect a sophomore jump from him as well, but, progression isn’t linear.
Like, if he somehow or another was just, like, the same player this year as he was next year, it’s cool as long as he continues to get better in the future.
But I don’t know.
Also, how much better would he have to get to drag them?
Yeah, I know.
That’s- Yeah.
He would have to make- ‘Cause I, I don’t- like, a All-Star type jump.
I don’t know who on their roster is, like, concrete going to be there for sure next year.
Same.
After the- Other than Yeah, other- After the Anthony Davis trade, I don’t know either yeah, other than Cooper, of course.
So it’s, it’s tough to really say right now based on what we know, uh- I’m surprised they got as many guys.
I thought PJ Washington- Yeah, I thought PJ Washington was gone Yeah, that’s why I say it’s like- Jasper, Naji Marshall, I thought he was gone.
If they don’t make much turnaround, they could still have a, at least a competent roster compared to a lot of these other teams around them.
Yeah, but I just think when you talk about out west, you need, like, that roster.
Like, you can’t just have, like, a competent roster to be able to compete out west.
‘Cause, like, you’re just competing with, like, heavy hitters in the Western Conference.
Yeah.
So it’s kinda like you gotta really have it together already.
Yeah.
It’s kinda hard to balance that timeline in the Western Conference of, like, developing Cooper Flagg while also trying to compete for playoff spots.
It’s, it’s gonna be a hard thing to try to do.
I think this is their last year of having their own pick, too, though, so they might just be incentivized to try enough to win- Yeah more games than we anticipate.
What does an off-season like that for them look like to be- That’s a good question potentially trying to try?
Yeah.
I’m not sure.
another team, it’s the o- obvious low-hanging fruit.
The Wizards did just acquire two All-Stars, so for them to go from right now 16 to 42, I think that on paper they’re at least a play-in team next season.
I mean, yeah.
Yeah.
And especially since they’re gonna have a top, top five, top four pick.
Right.
So, like, they, they got a The Wizards are, like, put in a sexy position right now, so I’m very excited to see what they do.
I’m very interested to see what Miami does.
I think they could be a team that maybe try to do something.
Um- That’s not what Bam said, right?
Yeah.
Bam said he’s tired of being in a play-in, even though he said that we’re better than being in the play-in o- over the last four years.
Unfortunately, Bam, y’all not better- Yeah from being in the play-in every, every single year.
But, that’s a front office thing, not, not a you thing at the end of the day.
Yeah.
‘Cause they, on paper you would think so, but if y’all continue to fall here, it’s, this is what it is.
The front office makes the decisions.
But I don’t think on paper they’re better.
I just think this is the team that they are.
I think they’re a good team, never a great team.
Yeah.
Um- I, the way I kinda looked at it too is he looked at the other, like, it’s usually Charlotte, and not the Charlotte we know now, but it’s Charlotte, the Bulls, and the Hawks.
The Heat do seem like the better team out of all of them, so- They’re more prestigious out of all of them- Yeah two Finals appearances in this time- Mm-hmm and everything.
But they just aren’t, though.
You know what I mean?
Like, at the end of the day, we gotta take a record for what it is, and- Mm-hmm that’s what it is.
They are the team that we see them to be.
That’s just the reality