No Debate: Warriors Win it All
However, NBA Eastern Conference is up for grabs
By D Shaffer
Chieftain Staff
Much like the 2017-18 NBA Season,
there isn’t much debate about who
will be taking home the Larry O’Brien
Championship trophy in June.
The Golden State Warriors decided
to make a move for Demarcus Cousins,
who took a massive pay cut, hoping to
make their Finals run even easier than
it was before. If you like the Warriors
right now, then I hope you’re a lifelong
fan, because hopping on the Warriors
bandwagon right now is the easiest ride
in the world.
Despite the Warriors making most
NBA fans dislike them even more,
there was one other big transaction that
stands out to fans. DeMar DeRozan
and Kawhi Leonard swapped teams --
Kawhi to the Raptors and DeMar to the
Spurs -- and they have both gotten off
Blake Griffi n is off to a hot start
to very hot starts.
barely played in college. The Nuggets
Recently, too, the 76ers acquired
look like a serious contender in the West
Jimmy Butler, who whined about the
Timberwolves until they decided to deal moving forward.
On the opposite end, the Houston
him out for Dario Saric and Robert Cov-
Rockets have gotten off to a horrible
ington. He will likely contribute heavily
to the already strong roster of the Sixers; start, considering how good they were
last year (65-17), and it’s probably be-
the addition of Butler makes the 76ers a
cause they acquired Carmelo Anthony.
heavyweight in the Eastern Conference.
Carmelo seems to destroy team chem-
With all that being said, there have
istry wherever he goes now, so it is no
been some surprises in the young
surprise to see him hurting the Rockets’
season. In the Western Conference, the
Denver Nuggets
have been per-
forming extremely
well under the
leadership of
Champions
Nikola Jokić and
Golden State Warriors
Jamal Murray, who
are both putting
up nearly 20 points
MVP
per game. They
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bucks
also have a strong
veteran presence
in Paul Millsap,
Most Improved Player
and people forget
they have Isa-
Bobby Portis, Bulls
iah Thomas and
Michael Porter, Jr.,
Rookie of the Year
the 2017 Gatorade
High School Player
Trae Young, Hawks (right)
of the Year who
NBA Awards
B R OTHE R R IC E H IG H S C H O O L C H I E F TA I N
P AGE 7
record. Rumors are that the Rockets will
waive Carmelo, so stay tuned.
In the Eastern Conference, the Rap-
tors have been nearly unstoppable
under Leonard’s leadership. But the
main story in the East is the Milwaukee
Bucks. Giannis Antetokounmpo has
gotten better every year he’s been in
the NBA, and he is offi cially asserting
himself as a top-3 player in the league
this season.
The East will be extremely fun to
watch this year, as there is really no
certainty as to who will make it to the
Finals, unlike the West.
Unsurprisingly, our Pistons have
gotten off to yet another mediocre start.
Maybe it’s the fact that they traded
away half the team for Blake Griffi n,
who has been very good so far this year.
Considering that he has a contract that
expires after the 2021-22 season and he
is already 29, Griffi n’s return on last
year’s blockbuster trade looks question-
able at this point. But he has defi nitely
impressed so far.
The team as a whole has not been
very good. Reggie Jackson thinks he
runs the offense, but he is probably
the third-best option, which hurts the
team’s chemistry. Andre Drummond
has been the same as he always has
been: a strong rebounder but an incon-
sistent scorer. Reggie Bullock has been
pretty good, but
Glenn Robinson
III, whom the Pis-
tons acquired in
the off-season, has
been very average.
The Pistons will
probably fi nish
around .500 and
squeak into the
Playoffs, consid-
ering there are
only three or four
teams competing
for a top seed in
the Eastern Con-
ference, making it
easier for the Pis-
tons to potentially
get an 8-seed.
N O V E M B E R 2018