The Clippers Just Became The Best Team In The NBA…

The Clippers Just Became The Best Team In The NBA…

So, a fresh new week has arrived, and here on this channel, that means one thing and one thing only. Every week, I post an episode of the series we do called Your Take, Not Mine, where I turn to you, the viewers, to give me your hottest NBA takes of the week based on what’s going on at the time, and I then choose my favorite submissions and discuss them in a video. This week, the NBA Summer League came to an end, while some very important free agency news also broke. So, we definitely have plenty to discuss. In order to submit your takes, I make a community post on either the day of or the day before the video similar to the one that you see on your screen now. So, if you want a chance to be featured in a future episode, be sure to stay on the lookout for that. Before we start, though, it turns out a good amount of you watching right now aren’t even subscribed to the channel. So, if you enjoy the content, consider hitting the subscribe button as not only does it help out a ton, but also very much appreciated. Now, with that being said, let’s begin. The first take we’ll be discussing today comes to us from Michael and he says that the Clippers have not only had a better off season than the Rockets, but they will also be better than the Rockets in this upcoming season, too. The Rockets were one of last season’s biggest breakout teams, having leveled up out of the rebuilding phase, jumping all the way up to second place in the Western Conference standings faster than anyone in the basketball world thought they would. They did so through the fact that their defense was ranked top five in the league and they had a well-balanced offensive attack with depth at every position. But in the playoffs, their lack of a true starc caliber number one scoring option hurt them a ton and they got sent home by the hands of Steph Curry and Jimmy Butler. When the Rockets traded for Kevin Durant this summer, it was a move that got a lot of people, myself included, fully bought in on the Rockets as a title contender because they addressed their biggest need headon and added future Hall of Famer and all-time great Kevin Durant of all people to be their go-to guy. Durant may be getting up there in age, but he is still easily one of the best and most efficient volume scorers in the game, putting up 27 points a night, shooting 53% from the field and 43% from three. Adding that to the team that finished with the second best record in the West in the regular season is a pretty damn good reason to buy into this group. But I actually don’t mind the original take here about the Clippers at all. The Clippers have conducted outstanding business this summer, and as a group that is still allin on contention, they’ve built themselves a deep roster of their own with upgrades being brought in at quite a few spots. Bradley Beal was one of the most overpaid players in NBA history last year and is definitely not good enough to expect all-star caliber output anymore. But after the Suns bought him out, the Clippers signed him for about $5 million annually. So, in the span of just a few days, he went from being on the worst contract in NBA history to having one of the best value contracts in the league. Beal still averaged a highly efficient 17 points per game last season. The Suns just had no depth on their roster and their defense as a team was a disaster. Playing next to Ivita Zubach, who just got named to the alldefense team, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Dunn, Derek Jones Jr., and Brooke Lopez amongst others is a much better defensive unit than Beal’s son’s team ever had. Then the Clippers signing Chris Paul for one last dance also can’t be overlooked because even though he’s 40 years old, he’s still one of the best passers in the game. And serving as James Harden’s backup will give the Clippers an elite passer and playmaker on the court for all 48 minutes. Health concerns are the biggest issue with the Clippers right now because Kawhi Leonard hasn’t always been available when the team needs him. And for the most part, the team’s leaders are pretty old. But on paper, with this group at full strength, they can absolutely go toe-to-toe with the Rockets and defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder or anyone else you throw at them. The next take we’ll be discussing today comes to us from a guy with a username who’s just random letters and he says that the Lakers will not be a playoff team this year and they’ll maybe be a play-in team but their defense is still too much of a mess to buy into. The Lakers received the biggest gift of all time wrapped up and dropped on their lap at the trade deadline last year when the Mavericks gave them Luca Donuch. Luca’s been an MVP caliber player since his second season in the league and his production at his age is unmatched in history. So having a piece like that to build around for the future is a blessing. But in the short term, the team made it much tougher to win now by doing that. The Lakers defense ranked in the bottom half of the league after the trade deadline last season because without Anthony Davis holding down the defense in the middle, they really didn’t have any other playable options at center. Their lack of size hurt them big time in the playoffs against the Timberwolves, who bullied them with Julius Randall, Rudy Gobear, and Nas Reed. And their back court is also made up of subpar defenders, which only makes matters worse. The Lakers may have finished in third place in the Western Conference last season, but the difference between third place and the playin tournament teams was only separated by two games in the standings. So, their cushion wasn’t exactly by much. And with so many teams around them getting aggressive this off season, the original take here definitely has a point. LA is by no means a lock for the playoffs in this upcoming season as currently constructed because so many things are difficult to buy into that need to go right for them to repeat that kind of standing. DeAndre Aton was brought in to address their need at center. And while he is objectively talented, he’s also been one of the laziest and least motivated players in the NBA over the last few seasons. LeBron James and his camp are currently hinting at a change of scenery, so we aren’t even 100% sure that LeBron will be a Laker for much longer. Marcus Smart was their other big free agency acquisition, but he’s only managed to play 54 games over the last two seasons combined due to injury. And when he has been on the court in that time, he’s been a shell of his former self. Plus, first round pick from last season, Daltton Connect seems poised for a sophomore slump after he just stunk it up in the summer league. So, all in all, even with Luca Donuch leading the way, I can’t say with any certainty that I believe in the Lakers next season. And finally, the last take we’ll be discussing today comes to us from Loren’s and he says that the Atlanta Hawks are legit contenders if Chris’s Porzingis can return to form this season. I’m not sure enough people realize just how wide open the Eastern Conference is going to be this year. The Boston Celtics are down for the count without Jason Tatum and after having traded Porzingis and Drew Holiday away. Plus, the Pacers are no longer in the mix after Tyrese Hallebertton’s injury and Miles Turner’s departure. The Cavaliers and Knicks are two teams everyone expects to battle it out at the top of the conference. But they’re not the only ones with a roster that can compete. Atlanta have sneakily been having one of the better off seasons in the entire NBA. And even though they’re another team that definitely need to prove they can stay healthy before being crowned as anything, they’re still a team with a loaded roster on paper. Trey Young has been desperate to play on a winning team again ever since he led the Hawks to the conference finals in 2021, and this is easily the best roster he’s had around him since then. Tyson Daniels broke out as a shooting guard next to him in the back court last year as one of the better perimeter defenders in the entire NBA. And now they also have sharpshooter Luke Canard backing him up, who has led the NBA in three-point shooting twice and has shot above 43% from a three for four seasons in a row. They also signed Nquille Alexander Walker away from Minnesota in a sign and trade to give the team even more scoring firepower in their back court. Jaylen Johnson was looking like someone breaking out on all-star trajectory before his injury shut him down, but he’s someone who can give you 20 points a night while dominating the glass and serving as a point forward type of role. Zachary Reach recently started to turn up down the stretch of last season and at minimum should be a highlevel 3 and D player with the ability to heat up quickly when his shot is falling. Then of course they traded for Chrisap’s Porzingis on an absolute bargain of a deal which is due to the fact that Porzingis’ health issues hampered him at the end of last year. He’s been dealing with an illness that nobody really seems to have the full details of. And I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t concerning, but for the price that the Hawks got him at, it’s a worthwhile swing to take every time. If Porzingis can return to form, he’s a shot blocking elite 7 foot3 player who can shoot the ball well, score 20 points a night, and could run a deadly twoman game with Trey Young and get even more open looks than he’s ever seen off of the playmaking skills of Trey running the show. The Hawks have successfully put together a team that can mask Trey Young’s deficiencies as a defender. They’ve got a legit scoring firepower around him and there’s size and versatility at every other position. So even though they still need to prove that their main players can stay healthy and that they can all put it together on the court at once, I think their ceiling is as high as anyone’s in the Eastern Conference. And with that being said, that’s all I have for you today. Make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and comment down below what you think about the takes we discussed. Thanks for watching and I’ll see you all next [Music]

Your Take, Not Mine is a series where I turn to the viewers to submit their NBA hot takes and I then select my favorite submissions to discuss in a video! Chris Paul, Bradley Beal, Lakers and more discussed

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