NBA Stories 2016

Nate's 9: NBA Stories 2016

Hey Fam…

No. That's not okay. I'm too old for Fam. I am however, impressed that it's a part of the Microsoft dictionary. How quickly things change in today's verbal generation.

It's been a long time since I've gotten this excited for the NBA season. Not including my Minnesota Timberwolves, there's a ton to get excited about for the new season, among them, how long it will take for Golden State and Cleveland to plow through the playoff process for a rematch. A suggestion? Let's make all the games a best of 5 series, so that the finals can be a best of 15. (First to 8 is the champion!)

There are plenty of stories within the NBA season, including those two talented franchises though. Here are my 9 to watch for over the next six months!

#9. Who is the East's 2nd best team? I think the #1 seed has already been locked up, but I believe Atlanta and Toronto have gotten a little bit worse, while 5-6 eastern conference teams got better. Boston and Indiana improved the most, but any of the playoff teams could get to the #2 seed. My hope is that Jason Kidd starts to get the most out of a really talented Milwaukee Bucks team, but my guess is that Scottie Brooks does it in Washington, or Toronto gets back with their all-star back court.

#8. Orlando has one of the best defenses around? Of all the teams to spend money on Bismack Biyombo, I certainly didn't think it would be the Magic, especially when their best player last year was Nikola Vucevic and they traded for Serbe Ibaka in the off-season. Tyler Johnson, maybe, but certainly not Biyombo. With that said, if there is room for all three of them on the floor, they all stay motivated and Frank Vogel gets the best out of them, then they will be extremely hard to score against. They also won't score very much either…

#7. Trade possibilities. I think three things need to happen this year. All involving big men. 1st - The Brooklyn Nets should trade Brook Lopez for future parts and just completely blow it up. They are likely to be historically bad this season, and don't have a lottery pick to make things better. They may as well keep sucking until they get back into the lottery, which is why they should give Lopez to the Portland Trailblazers for Ed Davis and a couple future firsts. Portland's ownership is already paying the league's 2nd highest payroll, so what's one more large salary, plus he could really open up the floor for their great shooters. 2nd - The Lakers finally gets Cousins. I've wanted this for years; not because I'm a Lakers fan, but because I think it's meant to be. All I've known are dominant centers and the Los Angeles Lakers… okay that's not true, Dwight Howard. But it's close. Sacramento is garbage, but Willie Cauley-Stein is probably their 2nd or 3rd best player. They can move Cousins now, and not feel awful about it. The Lakers are dying to rebuild with Ingram and a big man, so trading Russell for Cousins could be something that would interest both players, and both teams. 3rd - Philadelphia. Any big man, for any backcourt player. Seriously. (Not Ben Simmons though. I think they know that.)

#6. Philadelphia's Frontcourt. Segway style. This is going to be a great story, all the more so when Simmons recovers from his injury. See the problem is, they have too much "talent" in the front court, but hands down the worst back court in the NBA. Why they wouldn't draft a guard when this was the case? One isn't sure. It's especially odd considering that Dario Saric might be the best of the front court bunch, and he was drafted the lowest. In any case, I'm curious to see what works, what doesn't, who gets traded, and what they get traded for. I'm also ready for when they want to do a Nerlens Noel for Ricky Rubio swap.

#5. Portland's money. I alluded to this earlier, but yes, the Portland Trailblazers will have the second highest payroll in the NBA this year. Higher than the Warriors, higher than the Clippers, higher than the San Antonio Spurs. They gave Damian Lillard the money he deserved a while ago, and CJ got his over the summer. But to give Evan Turner 70 million!? 70!? Meyers Leonard got $40 and Moe Markless got $40. I guess the good news for them is it's probably enough to win the Northwest division, but the bad news is this is the team they're going to try and overtake the Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs with. As a Minnesota Timberwolves fan, I think the division could be ours in a very short period of time. Thank you, Portland.

#4. Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks Rebuilds. I feel bad for Fred Hoiberg. I think when he got to Chicago, he thought he'd be pursuing Eastern Conference championships. Now, he's got to figure out a way to make Rajon Rando and Dwayne Wade great again without upsetting these two veterans, all the while figuring out which players are going to be in the rotation down the road. It's not a task I would enjoy, and for such a nice man. That said, I'm going to go grab some popcorn and see how Hoiberg handles his business. As for the NY Knicks, I don't much care for any of the veteran additions, but if Carmelo is ever going to get a taste of the conference finals, they've got to do it now. Derrick Rose never stays healthy, Joakim Noah looks aloof at times, Brandon Jennings is a cannon on the court and from what I hear, off of it as well, and Courtney Lee is, well, a nice pick-up actually. He plays great defense, and I'm guessing won't mind that the other starters on the floor won't. Just seems like a really good teammate. That won't be enough though, and I wonder what happens if the Knicks miss the playoffs in this watered down east. A fully healthy Knicks squad will make the playoffs, but the minute someone goes down…

#3. Harrison Barnes. The player that I felt could be a superstar, but because he was surrounded by superstars, had no chance of doing so. Now he's with the Dallas Mavericks, at a superstar price, and should be given the keys to figure out what I had thought all along. In the ridiculous west though, it might not be enough to make the playoffs. Just looking forward to finally getting the answer I've wanted to know since high school in Iowa.

#2. Dub Nation. I'm not looking for another 73. I just want to watch this offense and enjoy.

#1. Timberwolves Youth. For having their four best players all be under the age of 23, the time will be coming soon. Nothing would make me happier than for soon to happen this season. I understand that this team is nowhere near ready to challenge for an NBA Title as a lot of things need to fall in place, defense needs to be played, and close games need to be won. But from a talent standpoint, I've only witnessed something like this a handful of times while watching the NBA throughout its history. The Detroit Pistons as a youngster. The Chicago Bulls during my impressionable years. The Houston Rockets when I really fell hard for the sport after the Clyde Drexler trade. Jordan's 72-10 Bulls. Shaq and Kobe's Lakers. The last few years of Dub Nation and the talents in Miami. And maybe, maybe the Boston Celtics when they traded for Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. That's it. And every single aforementioned team won an NBA Championship. I'm excited for this youth movement, because I can put these type of expectations on them, and also because I think they can achieve them. It should be a great NBA season.

Memories with my Loved Ones

Goodbye Donnie. Glad you have found some peace after a wonderful life.

At times I’ve thought that life was unfair. I feel like I’ve lost my loved ones a lot earlier than what could be considered normal. My dad before my wedding and children. A grandparent in my teens. Two others before my birth. And another a few days before his daughter’s (my mom) visit, and the announcement of his second great-grandchild. Maybe I’ve been unlucky, but it’s always eaten away at me a little bit. After thinking these memories through, I know I’ve been lucky. Cherish your loved ones.

#9. Naked Gun 33 1/3. This is the first time I remember going to the movies with my grandparents and just myself. Usually my brother or cousin went with, and that’s if we ever did so. I got to pick the movie, and without really knowing, I picked this “classic”. The car ride home was sensational. It was my grandmother complaining about how crappy movies have become, and how there’s nothing funny about that day’s humor. I thought the movie was hilarious.

#8. Birthday Checks. I’m now closer to 40 than I am to 30 (ahhhh!!!!), and I still received a birthday check from my grandmother (Donnie) at least up until this year. But that’s only because she forgot. And only forgotten because she found out that she had cancerous cells. If I can push 90, I’d like to think that I will certainly do the same for my grandchildren. And that they will use the money to purchase my favorite liquor the same way I liked to do for them. (The Goose).

#7. Spaghetti with my Dad and his Mom (Nan). I just remember the smells now, but I used to remember the shadows of my dad and my Nan as they would make spaghetti together in the kitchen while my brother and I played. My dad had a tough time in a lot of his relationships, but their love for one another was a blessing to me, and taught me something about my own relationship with my mom. While I have no business being in the kitchen, I think I can draw a lot of parallels from the happiness that each of us had spending time with our mothers.

#6. Texas Trip to say goodbye. Some things are better left unfinished. But I’m so glad I got to go to Texas and say goodbye to my grandma. She wasn’t the same; it was tough to be there at times. For someone who was usually so vibrant and commanded attention, she didn’t really say much at all for our stay. But I had my mother, brother, aunt and cousin all there with us, and it was nice to be able to do that as a family. It won’t change the way I see her in my eyes.

#5. Grocery Shopping with Nan. Ha, I use the same tactics. While most of the time growing up I was reserved or accommodating to all situations, when my brother and I were together as kids, it was modern warfare. We just never got along, and would always get into verbal and sometimes even physical altercations. (It’s so much better now, just the verbal). So when she would take us shopping, like clockwork she would tell us that we could each get a toy as long as we behaved. Every single time. I can’t imagine the bins of toys that she must’ve had accumulated during our trips to Pennsylvania. But it worked.

#4. Neil O’Donnell with Dad. He might not be the worst QB of all-time but it’s close. Or so we thought. A majority of our conversations over the phone during my teenage years were about football, and while he loved the Steelers and I loved the Packers, we both were able to agree on one thing. Neil O’Donnell sucked. We used to joke that the Steelers would have been as dominant as the Cowboys if we could just talk Jerry Jones into trading Neil O’Donnell to the Cowboys for Troy Aikman. And the funny thing is, he wasn’t that bad. He just cost them one Super Bowl once he got there.

#3. The Vikings/Packers game with Poppa. (Donnie’s husband). I never really got the chance to know my grandfather on a personal level, because during family events the kids were all together and the grown-ups were all together, and I just felt like he didn’t share my passion for sports. What I didn’t know is how much fun he was. This was either in 2003 or 2004 and the first game of the season was the Packers/Vikings game. I had invited my friend Harland (Geez, half this group is gone, I still miss you bro) and while the game was a disaster (for me – Packers were down 21-0 at one point), we had so much fun there. I had my first Grey Goose Martini with my grandpop, and we all just shot the crap (my Uncle Nate hosted), and watched football. Wish we could’ve had more fun like this..

#2. September 11^th phone call with my dad. Last time I talked to him. I know that the planes brought despair and sadness to a lot of people, but I was able to talk to my dad one last time. It went something like this.

“Hey, heard that a plane went down in rural Pennsylvania. Thought it might have hit you.”

“Nope, just missed.”

“Darn. Well you would have been famous anyway.”

“Time for me to go back into the army and kick some ass.”

“That’s another way to become famous.” …

Still miss him.

#1. Jeopardy and Vodka/waters with Donnie this year. While it isn’t DNA or environment related, my grandmother and I share a lot in common. Vodka, sports, black history, our dislike for stupidity, and no talking during Jeopardy. A bonding moment I’ll never forget. I love you.