NBA News: Week 14 (1/19 - 1/25)

[Furlanfufi]

[Mori Chu]

That looks like a very serious injury for Jimmy Butler, possibly an ACL tear. May cause the Warriors to be toast for the season, unless Kuminga has it in him to step up and fill Jimmy's spot. (He doesn't.)

[bajanguy008]

Yeah never cool to see

[Shabazz]

I think Deni has to win MIP this year right? He's made a legit jump in production and his team is winning.

He’s definitely deserving. Keyonte George would be his biggest challenger. Deni was on this trajectory last season. George completely turned his career around as he looked like a guy who was trending out of the league last season and is now putting up Devin Booker numbers.

[pickle]

That looks like a very serious injury for Jimmy Butler, possibly an ACL tear. May cause the Warriors to be toast for the season, unless Kuminga has it in him to step up and fill Jimmy's spot. (He doesn't.)

The Warriors are done for this and next year. Maybe now they will send Butler to Dallas with some pick(s) for AD.

I was hoping Suns could get JB last year. Glad I don’t run the team.

[pickle]

I think Deni has to win MIP this year right? He's made a legit jump in production and his team is winning.

He’s definitely deserving. Keyonte George would be his biggest challenger. Deni was on this trajectory last season. George completely turned his career around as he looked like a guy who was trending out of the league last season and is now putting up Devin Booker numbers.

Totally agree. I was shocked that the Wizards traded him away for such little returns. This and the Derrick White trade for Boston are the type of moves I’d love to see the Suns make.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Has to be Deni at this point. He's carried the Blazers to a likely play-in appearance with an honest chance at making the tournament as long as they don't trade Jrue and stay healthy.

Bill Simmons had a recent take about breaking the MIP into two awards and I think it has validity, certainly more so than an award like "Clutch Player of the Year". IIRC the distinction he made was an up-and-comer type who makes a leap (Deni/George) and a "comeback" type player who returns from injury or relative obscurity.

[Kryptonic]

[O_Gardino]

Deni is a lot of fun to watch. I feel like he has become the player he was always supposed to grow into. It was just a matter of opportunity, time, and health. He's only 25 or 26, so I hope he stays healthy for a long time.

It's a great time to be a tall white guy with handles and creativity.

[specialsauce]

Two of the weakest Suns of all time. One physically and the other mentally

[Superbone]

[Mori Chu]

I don't have a super keen eye for defense, but it just seems really clear even to my novice eyes that this year's Suns team is way more active on defense, especially getting into passing lanes and forcing steals and turnovers. I can't really tell if we are doing better at things like pick-and-roll defense, defensive rebounding rate, etc., though I'm sure there are some stats out there on that. But we are just clearly visibly hustling and trying harder on defense as a team than we used to.

[Split T]

Our forced turnover rate is a clear leader in our defense. We have the 3rd highest rate(OKC and Detroit higher) and there’s a pretty significant gap 3 to 4(and 5). We are 12th in effective fg% allowed, so pretty there, but we are below average at defensive rebounding and fts allowed.