My Best and Worst Takes This NBA Season

 With the NBA finals set to start on Thursday, I thought it was a good time to go over some of my takes from this NBA season. The beauty of having this blog now for an entire NBA season is that I cemented some takes I had throughout the year here. As I write this preamble, I haven't gone through anything yet. But I like to think that I had some good ones mixed in with some definite head scratchers. I already know where I am going to start and it was maybe the coldest take of the year: 

Bad Take: Indiana Pacers Will be the 8 Seed - Eastern Conference Standings Prediction

Lol. When I was previewing the Eastern Conference, I wanted to do anything I could to shoehorn the Raptors into the top 6. I couldn't fathom the 76ers falling out of the picture, honestly go through that whole article the entire thing could be my bad take #1, but this resulted in me having to choose a team to knock out of the top 6. I landed on the Pacers, who have proven me an idiot. On August 21, 2024 I wrote:

"Another hot take! Yes I think Indiana will be a play-in team this season. Despite swinging big and landing Pascal Siakam last season, the Pacers were only 20-16 with both he and Haliburton in the lineup. Hali was notably injured for the second half of the season and that may have a lot to do with it, but really I think this team lacks defense. They are going to have an electric offense again this season and that will win them a bunch of games, but the league is tough and I have a hard time seeing them make a top 6 seed given that they've done nothing to improve on the defensive end."

Honestly my reasoning was decent, but I should've known this offense was good enough to get them into the top 6. I was grasping at straws trying to get the Raptors into the playoffs ok, sue me.

Good Take: Jamal Shead is a Guy - Who Can Surprise for the Raptors This Season

In this same article I called Brandan Carlson my favorite prospect on the Raptors. Well Carlson is now going to an NBA finals with the OKC Thunder, so how about that? I kid, these end of bench guys are always hard to predict, but I noticed Jamal Shead right away in preseason and I am really happy that his season progressed the way it did: 

"Shead does all the little things, diving for loose balls, getting into passing lanes and hyping up his team when they need it. There's no challenge that Shead won't take on head on. He reminds me of Fred VanVleet on the defensive end the way he uses his heavy hands to strip bigger players. Offensively Shead continues his dogged mentality. He has strong IQ and has shown he can be a good distributor. He likely contributes early on offense in transition playmaking off the steals he creates."

With the intangibles Shead possesses, it wouldn't shock me to see him starting in a year or two. I'm claiming victory for this take! Go Jamal Shead. 

Bad Take - Sixers Will be the 2 Seed - Eastern Conference Standings Prediction

Like I said up top, if you go through any of my standings prediction posts they're riddled with ice cold takes. That's what I get for trying to be bold. This one wasn't bold, it was almost the consensus. I am happily wrong about this one. As a Raptors fan, I am always thrilled to see the Sixers fall. 

"The 76ers were 31-8 with Joel Embiid last season and they were 16-27 without him. Is betting on the health of the injury prone big stupid? Maybe. I think the addition of Paul George will allow the team to manage his minutes and games a bit more carefully. PG is a massive upgrade over Tobias Harris and should lead to more regular season wins by that fact alone. Maxey is a rising star and I think he will take another step this year."

Honestly, who would've thought that Paul George would in fact be Tobias Harris in disguise? Not me! It doesn't help that Tobias Harris helped lead a Pistons team to the playoffs this year. Terrible take, thank goodness. 

Good Take: Tanking Sucks - NBA: The Case Against Tanking

If I am being honest, I just wanted to complain about tanking again. The NBA is lucky that the playoffs have been so good because the regular season was brutal with all the tanking. Anyway, my take back on October 10th was essentially that nobody who wants a tank actually watches the games and from my NBA circles, I can tell you that is 100% true: 

"I am a die hard fan. I am going to watch probably 70+ Raptors games every year until I physically cannot anymore regardless of the team's quality. I question if the fans calling for tanking are feeling the same way. While it would be nice to maybe get some more affordable Raptors tickets, the fan base will dwindle significantly until they're good again. Tanking just isn't fun. I can see the argument for if you're on pace to win 30 games at the trade deadline, sell some pieces and win 25 instead. But to go into the season with the mentality of wanting to lose as many games as possible is harmful to the fans and the culture you're trying to build. Being competitive is fun, we can celebrate with each other over the big wins and feel frustrated over the big losses, that's what sports is about. If you enter the season with a tanking mentality you're robbing yourself of all the joy you could be getting from the season."

I honestly felt vindicated when the worst tankers of the season were punished with middling lottery picks while the play in caliber teams were rewarded with the top picks. Maybe the reasoning behind tanking is sound, all it did for me this year is make me a lonely Raptors fan. 

Bad Take: Lakers in 5 - NBA West Playoffs Preview

Blinded by Anthony Edwards hate, I picked them to lose in 5 games against the Lakers in round 1. Of course I got the exact opposite outcome of Timberwolves in 5, something that seems like it should've been obvious. The Lakers had no big, I thought a big team in the Timberwolves would struggle against a team with no big? Yeah I was just picking with my heart here: 

"the Wolves don't stand a chance - I don't think the Lakers have a great option for Ant, but I don't think the Timberwolves have much of a threat beyond that and I think the Lakers have more guys to worry about. I think Ant makes noise and takes a game or two, but I'd be surprised if the Wolves come out of this series."

Good Take: Pacers Over Cavs - NBA Playoffs Round 2 Preview

Have I redeemed myself for saying the Pacers would be a play in team in August? As soon as I saw the way they played against the Bucks I had a feeling they'd make some noise against the Cavs. Nobody in their right mind was with me on this one and I was roasted in my group chat endlessly when I presented this take. I was too conservative picking Pacers in 6 it turns out, they won in 5. 

"The Cavs dropped game 1 at home, while missing Darius Garland. As I mentioned, Garland definitely would've helped try to keep up with the offensive explosion of the Pacers, but I think he also takes away from their defense in the backcourt which is going to be extra important this series against Haliburton. I think the Pacers have the exact type of team that should give Cleveland trouble and I just straight up like them, so I am leaning Pacers in an upset."

Pacers are a different animal in the playoffs. I think teams that are beheld to playing 2 bigs struggle the most against the Pacers floor spacing and pace of play. Cleveland shouldn't do anything too drastic this offseason, it was a nightmare matchup and if things shake out differently next season they could be right there. That being said, go Pacers go. 

That's all for now! To be honest when I started this I thought I had more takes, but it turns out I don't write a lot of predictive articles until the playoffs start. I probably have a bunch more niche Raptors ones in there but that's for a different post.