Tyler

NBA final playoff predictions

With less than one week left of the NBA regular season we are starting to see the standings shape up as the top teams are starting to pull away and the middle to bottom teams fight for one of the final playoff spots. Let’s go through my final playoff predictions for the Eastern and Western Conferences.

Eastern Conference

Milwaukee Bucks 58-24
Boston Celtics 57-25
Philadelphia 76ers 53-29
Cleveland Cavaliers 50-32
New York Knicks 47-35
Miami Heat 44-38
Brooklyn Nets 44-38
Chicago Bulls 41-41

Western Conference

Denver Nuggets 54-28
Memphis Grizzlies 51-31
Sacramento Kings 49-33
Phoenix Suns 46-36
Los Angeles Lakers 43-39
Golden State Warriors 42-40
New Orleans Pelicans 42-40
Minnesota Timberwolves 41-41

Should Luka leave Dallas???

With the Dallas Mavericks well under .500 now and are currently sitting at 37-42 on the season it looks like the Mavericks are going to miss the playoffs entirely. When looking at the Mavericks just last season they looked like a good team and who were on the come up but with some key departures and trades this Dallas team has completely done a one eighty.

With Luka having yet another MVP level year the Mavericks are still not close to a top level team and they don’t have any young ascending talent for Dallas fans to look forward to, with the only valuable asset in the team being Luka Doncic what is there for Luka to want to stay in Dallas? With the Mavericks losing Jalen Brunson to the Knicks last year and trading away multiple players and picks for Kyrie Irving.

Before the Irving trade the Mavericks were the 4th seed in the west and after the trade the Mavericks are now the 11th seed. If the Mavericks can’t get support around Luka he should want out as the Mavericks have struggled to get a second star in Dallas even when superstar Dirk Nowitzki was playing in Dallas his whole career.

NBA top three scariest teams in the East

With the NBA regular season coming to an end we are starting to see the playoff brackets set in both the Eastern and Western Conferences. With the playoff brackets starting to shake out we have the top teams starting to pull further ahead of the middle and bottom tier teams, let’s go through my top three teams in the Eastern Conference and why.

The scariest team in the Eastern Conference is the Boston Celtics, with the roster depth Boston has they can match up with just about any team in the league. With the Celtics blowing out the Milwaukee Bucks earlier last week this Celtics team has shown many times that they can be the best team in the league when they are playing at their best.

The second best Eastern Conference team is the Milwaukee Bucks, with many fans and media members believing the Bucks are the best team. I don’t believe that, I believe the Bucks are a top team but not the best as the Celtics have shown time and time again that they can beat the Bucks. Even though Milwaukee had the best player in the league they have holes throughout the roster.

With the third best Eastern conference team is the Philadelphia 76ers. The 76ers have the championship ceiling but with thier star players in James Harden and Joel Embiid having playoff implications over their careers these two superstars have to show that they can step up when the lights shine brightest, until then they are my third best team in the Eastern Conference.

NFL free agency news and updates this week

With the NFL having a slow free agency week we didn’t see a whole lot of signings and or trades, with still lots of big name players available in the coming weeks we will have further news about that when it breaks. Let’s go through some of the signings throughout the last week of march.

First off the biggest signing of the week is the Atlanta Falcons have signed defensive end Calais Campbell, Campbell is in the last years of his career as he has played for a couple teams like the Jacksonville Jaguars, Baltimore Ravens and now the Atlanta Falcons, this deal is a one year $7 million dollar deal with incentives.

Next up we have the Buffalo Bills signing safety Taylor Rapp, Rapp is a solid backup player and now a loaded secondary for the Bills. Rapp has spent his first years in the league with the Los Angeles Rams where he won a Super Bowl two seasons ago and will now join another loaded team.

Lastly we have the Pittsburgh Steelers signing former pro bowl safety Keanu Neal, Neal has been around the league with a couple teams that include the Atlanta Falcons where he was a pro bowler, the Dallas Cowboys, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and now the Pittsburgh Steelers in which he’ll be playing alongside all pro safety Minkah Fitzpatrick. This is a two year deal for Neal and will hopefully revive his playing career as he’s had a slew of injuries.

Three best and worst NBA trade deadline deals

As we are heading into the final handful of games for the regular season we finally have good knowledge of what teams trade deadline moves have been worth their while and for other teams what trades have been a disaster. Let’s go through my three best and worst trades.

With the worst trade by far is the Kyrie Irving trade to the Dallas Mavericks, the Mavericks gave up Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finny-Smith a 2029 first round pick and two second round picks in exchange for Kyrie Irving and Markieff Morris. Since this trade the Mavericks have been under .500 and close to missing the playoffs completely.

One of the best trades is the Russell Westbrook trade to bring in D’Angelo Russell, this trade has made the Lakers since the trade deadline and with new faces on this fresh new Lakers team it’s made them go from a fringe playoff contender to a championship team in the matter of a few smart moves.

Another great trade is the Brooklyn Nets trading Kevin Durant for Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson and four first round picks. Now this seems like a bad deal for the Nets but with Mikal Bridges getting more minutes on this Brooklyn team he’s turned into a two way star this far, and with the Suns picks ranging from 2023 to 2029 these picks could be top eight picks in just a couple years.

Lamar Jackson speaks out on injury history

2020 NFL MVP Lamar Jackson has spoken out on twitter once again as this time it pertained to his injury history over the last couple seasons. Lamar went to twitter as he tweeted out “I don’t remember me sitting out on my guys week 1 vs jets To week 12 vs Broncos, How come all of a sudden I sit out because of money in which I could’ve got hurt at anytime within that time frame 🤔 When we know the Super Bowl been on my mind since April 2018.”

Lamar has spoken out many times this week on twitter about people concerns like injuries, contact wants and play on the field, even the Atlanta Falcons owner Auther Blank has come out earlier this week and spoke out as to why the Falcons aren’t pursuing Jackson and why they organization did pursue Deshuan Watson last offseason.

Jackson did also tweet out on Wednesday that “Let’s get real. I rather have a 100% PCL than go out there and play horrible forcing myself to put my guys in a bad situation now that’s selfish to me,”. This doesn’t look good for Lamar as teams seem to be dropping out every week and Lamar now has a smaller market than last week.

Packers QB updated QB situation

The Green Bay Packers have been in the news ever since they reportedly wanted to move off of superstar quarterback Aaron Rodgers, with the Packers making it very clear that they intend to move off of the four time MVP.

With Packers head coach Matt LaFleur talking to the press about future starting quarterback Jordan Love, LaFluer talked about the Packers QB situation and stated “Rodgers’ impending trade is what it is, and at the same time, we’re excited about Jordan and how he’s been able to progress as a quarterback, how he’s matured as a man,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said Tuesday at the Annual League Meeting in Phoenix. “It’s going to be a different role for him, certainly, and I think we all have to kind of temper our expectations for him. It’s different when you’re going into a game versus when you’re starting a game. It’s going to be a process, but it’s gonna be exciting for him, for us.

“I don’t think any quarterback can truly do it on their own in this league. So it’s going to be everybody rallying around him and trying to be at the best of their ability so that he can go out there and perform as good as he possibly can.”

With Love going into his fourth year he is officially getting his shot at the starting spot on the Packers as it was reported after the season that if Green Bay brought back Rodgers for another year Jordan Love would have requested a trade as he wanted to start for a organization and prove his worth.

Lamar Jackson speaks out on trade request

Lamar Jackson spoke out on twitter Monday afternoon about his trade request that he gave the Baltimore Ravens on March 2nd, Jackson released a series of tweets stating “A letter to my Fans,” I want to first thank you all for all of the love and support you consistently show towards me. All of you are amazing and I appreciate y’all so much. I want you all to know not to believe everything you read about me.

“Let me personally answer your questions in regards to my future plans. As of March 2nd I requested a trade from the Ravens organization for which the Ravens has not been interested in meeting my value, any and everyone that’s has met me or been around me know I love the game of football and my dream is to help a team win the super bowl. You all are great but I had to make a business decision that was best for my family and I. No matter how far I go or where my career takes me, I’ll continue to be close to my fans of Baltimore Flock nation and the entire State of Maryland. You’ll See me again Truzzzzz.”

Lamar and the Ravens have been in discussions about an extension for over two years but after the two sides have failed to agree on the details it was likely that both parties were going to part ways. With the Ravens placing a non-exclusive franchise tag on Jackson right before the franchise tag deadline Lamar is now free to negotiate with any team as long as the team can give up two first round picks.

Bobby Wagner returning to Seattle

If you’ve heard of Bobby Wagner you’ll probably recognize him from the Seattle Seahawks. The all pro linebacker is returning to the Seahawks on a one year deal worth up to $7 million dollars, with Wagner being released by the Seahawks last offseason he signed with the Los Angeles Rams on a three year deal but after a disastrous first year with the Rams, Wagner was released.

With Wagner looking to sign with a top contender this offseason Seattle wasn’t really talked about as most view the Seahawks as a rebuilding team but Wagner can join this Seattle team who was a playoff team last year and can be this year too in a weak NFC conference.

Bobby was drafted and spent his first ten seasons in Seattle in which he went to two Super Bowls and won one in 2013 as the best defensive player on one of the the most famous defensive units in the legion of boom defense.

The 32 year old linebacker still has a couple good seasons in him as he was still considered a top middle linebacker last year on the Rams. Even as a eight time pro bowl player Wagner can still be a major contributor to this rising Seattle defense and be a team captain once again.

Top three scariest NBA teams in the playoffs

With the NBA regular season winding down the playoff picture for both conferences are starting to shape up as the top teams are pulling away and the majority of teams are still fighting for the last couple playoff spots. Let’s go through my top three teams that nobody in the playoffs wants to face.

The Milwaukee Bucks are my first team as many believe the Bucks are the best overall team in the league as they have arguably the best player in Giannis Antetokounmpo and other great players like all star Jrue Holiday, Brook Lopez, Bobby Portis, Kris Middleton and others. With the Bucks having the best record in the league they are going to be a nightmare for any team in the league to play.

My second scariest team is the Los Angeles Lakers and this comes with a caveat, if the Lakers can stay healthy which is a big ask they can beat just about any team in the league as they are the only team with two top ten players in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers are beefed up their roster at the trade deadline by making smart moves that fit around LeBron and AD, this team has arguably the highest ceiling as they can either be a one and done or a championship team in June.

Lastly I have the Phoenix Suns, the suns are like the Lakers as they have a very high ceiling but staying healthy is going to be a big ask as they have some injury prone players in Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton. This suns team has a very high ceiling but with how the roster is constructed they don’t have a lot of perimeter defense and are very top heavy which relies more on their star players.