NBA Fanbases Who Deserve a Chip

 Before the Raptors game last night TSN was playing a documentary about the formation of the Raptors all the way to today. I only caught the last 15 minutes of it which was recapping the championship run, oh man it was fun to relive it. While it was fun to look back, the highlights they chose to display in that doc were really strange. They first brushed right past the Magic series which makes sense. Then they quickly show the Kawhi shot and let us know what Simu Liu thought of it. They then completely skip over the Bucks series for some reason then skip through games 1-5 of the Warriors series before landing on game 6. For game 6 highlights they decided to show basically the entire 5 minute delay with 0.5 seconds left before the Raptors officially won the championship. That's right, they showed the timeouts and reviews not actual basketball highlights. It was bizarre, so many good moments that could've been used instead! Anyway, the people talking in it was cool and seeing the parade footage again reminded me how fun it was to have a winner in the city. Felt like everyone at that time was coming together to watch basketball, was so special. 

Anyway, with that hot on my mind, I thought it'd be fun to look at the teams that I feel most deserve to experience that magic themselves this season. This isn't who I think is going to actually win it all, but more an exercise in teams that have an outside shot to get it done who's fan bases will appreciate it the most. Obviously teams like the Lakers and Celtics can't apply here. 

 

Cleveland Cavaliers

The NBA's ultimate I'll believe it when I see it team. The Cavs are currently sitting at 56-11 and are completely running away with the 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. To have a good record in the NBA it's important that you beat up on bad teams when you face them, the Cavs do this as well as almost anyone with a 33-5 record against below .500 teams. To be a true contender in the NBA it's important that you also show up and beat the good teams, this is where the Cavs blow me away with their 23-6 record against above .500 teams. Basically it doesn't matter if it's a home or road game or who the opponent is, the Cavs are probably going to win. They have the #1 offense in the league by a wide margin and are pairing that with the #5 defense in the league. Darius Garland is having a great bounce back season, Evan Mobley has turned into the elite defender that was promised and Donovan Mitchell and Jarett Allen are both as good as they've ever been. The addition of DeAndre Hunter was praised by everyone except for me, but he's been amazing in his role scoring 14ppg on a scorching 67% true shooting. None of this even mentions Ty Jerome who I swear I've never seen miss a shot. Simply put, this is a team that's firing on all cylinders with chemistry that's been building over the last 3 seasons, so why aren't they considered favorites in the east? Mostly because they need to get through Boston who we've all seen do it before and are the only team in the East that can claim to have a better starting lineup than the Cavs.

Now why does the fanbase deserve it? They are only 9 years removed from a championship in 2016, it's not like the city hasn't seen it before. My thing is, that was with LeBron. When LeBron is on your team, it stops being about the city and it starts being about LeBron. The media coverage picks up to an astronomical level, ESPN talks about your team as much as they talk about the Lakers and your GM starts making decisions with LeBron chirping in the background. The Cavs for the first time in my lifetime are finally good without LeBron. If they were to win this one, it feels like it would be more authentically their own and not just some feather in LeBron's cap. I'm sure the city felt amazing when LeBron completed the most exciting finals of the last couple decades, but I am willing to bet winning this one would feel even better. 

Oklahoma City Thunder

OKC would be the best team in the NBA if it wasn't for Cleveland sitting neck and neck with them. Shai Gilgeous Alexander feels like a lock for MVP at this point and he definitely deserves it, leading the league in scoring with 33 points per game on 64.5% true shooting while playing on a 1 seed that's on a 67 win pace. What's most impressive about this team is the Thunder are the second youngest team in the NBA with an average age of just 24.7. They've got young, athletic dudes at every position who absolutely get after it on defense. The Thunder games I've seen I've likened them to a pack of piranhas. Caruso, Dort, Wallace and JDub all seem like an absolute nightmare to try and dribble around with each of them offering versatility and shooting on offense as well. Young teams tend to underperform in the playoffs and we definitely did see that last year in their 6 game loss to the Mavericks, but with that fresh in mind and arguably the best closer in the league in Shai, I think the Thunder have as good a shot as anyone to make the finals this season. 

The Thunder haven't ever won a championship in Oklahoma City. Now I won't pretend like I know much about the city itself, but what I do know is Thunder games are the only show in town. There's no hockey team or baseball team to rally behind, what they've got is the Thunder. People describe games in the Thunder's stadium as electric because of this factor, fans are passionate about the only show in town. I think if the Thunder win the celebrations will be electric. We might even get a little taste of it up here with a Canadian in Shai presumably getting the Finals MVP. 

Minnesota Timberwolves

The Wolves got off to a rocky start after making a head scratching trade that sent franchise legend KAT to the Knicks for Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo. It took them a while to figure it out but they've been hot in the last couple of weeks winning 8 of their last 10. Donte had a horrific start to the season but since the all star break he's doing what he did for the Knicks last season, exactly what that team needed. While it's impossible to trust Randle to show up in the playoffs, he also has been playing a lot better of late helping the Wolves surge back into the conversation. Of course none of this would be possible without Anthony Edwards who's remarkably leading the league in 3s made this season on 40% shooting from deep. Though the Wolves are only a 7 seed at the moment, I doubt there's any team that wants to see them come playoff time. We've seen their defense is able to lock in to a higher level and the eye test tells me Ant gets up more for big games. If a team comes into a series against them lackadaisically, they will pounce and take advantage like they did with the Nuggets last season. Can they do this with Randle as their second best player though? That's the question we'll have to answer. 

This is the one where the fanbase probably deserves it more than any. Minnesota sports is a wasteland of disappointment and crushed dreams similar to how Toronto was before the Raptors broke through. The Vikings find new ways to get your hopes up before crashing down to earth mightily every single season. I mean seriously, their rookie QB tears his ACL in training camp making everyone think the season was a writeoff, then Sam Darnold somehow turned himself into an MVP canditate, the team goes 14-3 making everyone think they're actually surprise contenders, then they promptly lose in the first round. The Twins haven't won a World Series or really even been serious contenders for one since 1991. Can you imagine cheering for a baseball team that hasn't won since the early 90s? I could never imagine! For the Wolves, before Ant got there they were an absolute joke of a franchise for almost my entire life. This has nothing to do with the real world but I matched up online with someone on 2K using the all time Timberwolves and I was shocked to see Sam Cassell is the all time starting PG on that team. Does any other team have as sad of a history at that position? No offense Sam Cassell. This is a fanbase starved for success and I think it's ripe for a Toronto style eruption once they finally taste it. 

That's that! A little discombobulated but my analysis on basketball when the playoffs kick in will go up a notch for sure. I have been still locked into my tanking Raptors while I still got em so my rest of the league coverage is suffering. Once the playoffs start I'll be watching almost every game and you'll be sure to hear about it here! As always, go Raptors!