Piece by Ditto Palang
To celebrate the NBA regular season coming back, let’s look at 3 players who have been roasting the league, and may have, in another life (without Sarver and smarter drafting), actually been teammates.
TJ Warren
TJ “Cash Considerations” Warren has been on absolute fire. He’s had a solid career so far but this breakout has not been anything anyone expected. Currently, his insane bubble stats are 39.7 points, 3.3 assists, 5.7 rebounds, 2 steals and 2.3 blocks. This is all on a sizzling 77% true shooting (that’s 65% for field goal percentage) to boast an MVP Curry .61% from 3 point land. Take note of the fact that in addition to these contributions is that his team, the Pacers, are undefeated in their first 3 games. I’m expecting him to fall back to earth in a couple of games but this is definitely a great sign for things to come from him.
Devin Booker
With a devastating superb game winner against the Clippers, Booker has the Suns starting a 3 game winning streak to break into the play-in tournament. Devin is splashing in buckets from 3 at 45% and dropping 30 points a game with a complimentary 5 assists and 4 rebounds. What’s more important to point out here is that this is the first time Booker is playing meaningful basketball as he’s leading his Suns to a possible play-in tournament with the 8th. Unlike Warren, you can count on Booker to keep droppin 30 a game if he so chooses but maybe at a worse efficiency. Look for opposing teams to send double teams and have his teammates win the game.
Luka Doncic
Though losing games to Houston and Phoenix, Luka Legend has been playing great basketball averaging a triple double in the bubble with a statline of 34 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists. Even with his outside shot not falling (17%), his true shooting is still at a great efficiency at 58%. He’s been a top 5 MVP candidate this year so this should be nothing new as he contributes to filling up the stat sheet. Luka’s stats and problems still stem from him simply generating too much of the Mavs scoring opportunities. I put his 3 point shooting slump to a lot of rust so expect it to go back to a baseline of 33%. Though, I do expect Rick Carlisle to lessen his minutes or experiment with him coming off ball as they’ve clinched the 7th seed.
Gary Trent Jr.
A player I have been keeping tabs on since he got drafted has gone mostly unnoticed this season but has managed to absolutely be a key cog in the Blazers offense. He’s been a great guard option outside of the power duo of Dame and CJ. GTJ has been shooting extremely efficiently, and confidently if I might add, in the bubble. Currently, he’s sitting at 18 points with 5 makes from three at a rate of 60%. Watch this average drop to about 50% in the next coming games as defenses will now see him as an offensive threat. Portland’s depth will now be an interesting offensive punch with him and Melo.
Before I wrap up, do note that the Suns could’ve had all them on their team now if some luck and smarts went their way. Draft Luka instead of Deandre Ayton (who got suspended for a large amount of the season), Draft Gary Trent Jr instead of Elie Okobo (who’s out with an ankle sprain) and keep TJ Warren (who was just traded for cash considerations). Just imagine if D. Book had that help.
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