Views from far far away Vol. 7

Views from far far away- All-Star week and the Trade Deadline
With the trade deadline come and gone at 3PM today, the NBA looks a little different. There was no Jimmy Butler or Paul George trade, but a couple of teams got what they needed for the playoffs. The team that gained the most was the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder traded Anthony Marrow, Joffrey Lauvergne, and Cameron Payne for Taj Gibson, Dough McDermott, and a 2018 2nd rounder. This trade will make the Thunder more of a threat down the stretch, giving OKC two good players that can create their own shot and play off of Westbrook. Gibson adds the physical big that the Thunder were missing and McDermott can add a shooter at the wing.

The Dallas Mavericks also retooled for a playoff run in response to the Pelican trade. The Mavs went out and got Nerlens Noel exchange for Andrew Bogut, Justin Anderson, and a Top 18 protected 1st rounder. If the 6’ers don’t receive the pick; they get two 2nd rounders (one in 2017 and one in ’18). The Mavs are one game behind New Orleans in the standing and they will have to keep pace with New Orleans and every team in front of them.

Since this week was the week off for the All-Star break my Player of the Week will be an All-Star. Even with Anthony Davis winning the MVP of the All-Star game, he is not my Player of the Week. Instead those honors to go Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant. Durant recorded a triple-double in the game in only 27 minutes. Scoring 21 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, and tossing 10 dimes (including an alley-oop to former teammate Russell Westbrook), while also adding 2 steals with that. The 52 points was impressive and is an All-Star record, breaking the 42-point mark set by Wilt Chamberlain in the 1962 All-Star game.  Davis didn’t have a single assist in game and had a turnover to Durants’ zero. The points record was also set for the 3 consecutive year, which needs to change next year. I want a more competitive game next year with players who actually care and want to play defense.  

Getting into Rookie of the Week. I will be picking this week’s RoW from the Rising Stars game. The honor goes to Philadelphia 76’ers guard Dario Saric who played 26 minutes, scored 17 points, shot 7-10 from the field, had 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in the World’s 150-141 win over the USA.

After a week off from NBA action, the league has set up a nice schedule that starts tonight. At 8 tonight on TNT the Knicks travel to Cleveland to face Lebron and the Cavilers. After that on TNT, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan and the Clippers go to the Bay to face Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, and the Warriors at 10:30. Moving to tomorrow night, a couple of red hot teams in the Eastern Conference faceoff north of the boarder. The Raptors host the Celtics for a very competitive game in Toronto on 8 on ESPN. Following that at 10:30, the Clippers are on again, this time at home against LaMarcus Aldridge, Kawhi Leonard, and the San Antonio Spurs. Moving onto Sunday, Dwyane Wade and Lebron get to play each other yet again in Cleveland at 8:30 EST on ESPN. On Sunday we get to have our first look at DeMarcus Cousins in a Pelican uniform when they travel to Oklahoma City to play Westbrook and the new look Thunder at 7PM EST on NBA TV. For the start of the week, Cleveland hosts the Greek Freak on TNT at 7, and then the country splits into two games on TNT after that. Half of the country will get Miami traveling to Dallas at 8:30 and the other half will get Indiana going to Houston to play James Harden and the Rockets at 9:30. Then ending the week on Wednesday with Boston hosting the Cavilers and Houston going to Los Angeles to play the Clippers, both games are on ESPN. However, I hope all you NBA enjoyed the All-Star week off, it’s back to action, so make sure you step behind the line when you shoot.
Sources:(espn.com, nba.com, sbnation.com)

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