The Hoops Nerd gives MIP Awards to the most intriguing player in each team during the NBA pre-season. Once upon a time, the Pacific division was all the NBA fans cared about. It had the Los Angeles Lakers in it and to some degree, the Lakers are the NBA. Or were. Whatever. If you ask the first persn you meet on the street to name you an NBA team, he's probably going to name you the Los Angeles Lakers. But their latest era of dominance is almost over. Kobe Bryant is getting old and it's chaos on the shores of the Pacific ocean. Anyway...
GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS
Last year, plenty of intriguing players in the Golden State Warriors' starting line-up shed that label an became budding all-stars. That Stephen Curry-Andrew Bogut concept seemed to finally be working and what a show it was. Could it be basketball's no.1 bench cheerleader's turn, this year? Kent Bazemore was the darling of the Las Vegas summer league and is showing signs of emergeance. He's a strong two-way guard and an athletic finisher. My pinky is telling me part of the idea behind letting Jarrett Jack go was to give Bazemore a chance at making his place in the rotation. I have the impression Mr. Freaky Forearms will become a factor this year.
LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS
Blake Griffin is an all-star, but he isn't a superstar yet. His game has been cruelly one-dimensional so far and he has never showed the willingness to carry his team on his shoulders. Is that going to happen? The Clippers were a deception last year, being wolfed down by the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round of the playoffs and Griffin's vanilla performence was part of the problem. Blake is a RI-DONK-U-LOUS athlete and should be able to play on both sides of the floor. Will Doc Rivers' arrival change his fate? He did it once with his boy Kevin Garnett. Changed him from an athletic leaper to one of the most complete players at his position. I am genuinely excited to think about what Griffin could become.
LOS ANGELES LAKERS
Follow my drift. Any other setting but Los Angeles would be detrimental to Nick Young's career, right now. But he is right at home in this otherwise depressing Lakers lineup.Young is like...the only semi-competent perimeter shooter in Mike d'Antoni's wacky system and given the idea that he's a lifelong Lakers fan, Young will shoot away, will do so gleefully and will feel appreciated by a coach who loves trigger-happy perimeter shooting maniacs. Something tells me Young is going to blossom under d'Antoni, average over 15, sign a longer deal next summer and become somewhat of a super 6th man for the most famed franchise in basketball. He might've just lucked out and found the perfect situation for him. We'll know for sure this year.
PHOENIX SUNS
Eric Bledsoe was two things in 2012-13. He was one of the most coveted trade targets on the market and he was that guy, who we wanted great things for. He was like that girl we wished a new boyfriend to. He could not make justice to himself backing up Chris Paul in Los Angeles, but now that he's been traded to the wasteland in Phoenix, we hope he's going to make a name for himself and keep them over the 10 wins respectability limit. We pray for his self-esteem, but we're confident that mini-LeBron will find his way under the Arizona sun. Honorable mention to Archie Goodwin, who has spent last season being called a disappointment and who's showing signs of life in the quicker, more athletic game of the NBA. We'll monitor his evolution too.
SACREMENTO KINGS
Sacramento is a mess. It's a more promising mess than last year, but it's still a mess. There is nothing I'd rather see from them this year than the owner's slow, painful coming to terms with the fact he bought a broken wasteland of a franchise that was driven to failure repeatedly for ten years by idiot brothers. They drafted Ben McLemore last year, but they need to make room for him so that the Thomas Robinson fiasco doesn't happen again. Is Boogie Cousins really going to take over? Will the Kings attempt to trade this plethora of young players for a franchise cornerstone? Why is Vivek Ranadive taking photos of himself in a Golden State Warriors shirt? So many questions. So much work to do.
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