No, it’s just not based on a famous movie’s title that was based on the existential dread one feels when watching Clippers get destroyed by an eventual 15-win team. Today’s title describes today’s official state of mind.
We’ve talked about, they’ve talked about it, everyone’s talked about it; with Victor Wembanyama heading into his year-3 season, would we finally see the peak begin? Again, hot takes are a natural byproduct in the first steps of any opening season, but are there any non-Wemby believers out there?
Sure, even someone as cautious (uh…), unbias (lol), and nuanced (lmao) as myself accepts the health-concerns, not just from last year’s blood clot issue, but just what the game’s history tells us about this kind of size and frame, I think deep down we all are concerned about this aspect. But beyond that, whatever glaring gaps Victor had on the court itself looks to be slowly working themselves out.
With last nights beating of the Mavericks, Wemby showed exactly the things we want to see from what could be a top-3 player by the end of the season. He showed physicality, better touch and feel in the paint, and dictated his own pace in and around the rim. It’s hard not to have close range touch at that height and reach, but going against a team that may not be full strength, but has plenty of size, the entire roster of Mavs bigs could not do one thing to stop any of it. His final stat line was 40 PTS, 15 REB, 3 BLK, 1 AST, 1 STL with a +27 in 30 minutes.
The Mavs on the other hand, yikes. While the point forward experiment with Cooper Flagg is a worthy one, let’s still keep in mind that rookies are still rookies and will have nights like this. With just 10 points on 4-13 shooting, he still managed a double-double with 10 rebounds, but it’s clear the team will have trouble until Kyrie Irving comes back or someone else steps up. Just 20 team assists is not a recipe for success.
Anthony Davis did go 2-4 from three? That’s one positive, maybe? It’s also small sample size, so that’s why we went with two question mark statements instead of one. Also, P.J. Washington continues to look like a legit above-average starter and it’ll be interesting to see what the starting five does eventually look like if Irving does return. Who sits? Personally I think it should be Klay, but it’ll be long ways until that decision.
Here’s what else I saw during opening day…
A Razzball favorite! Both Kostas and myself wondered out loud (on paper) why VJ Edgecombe was sitting below 40% ownership in fantasy leagues. He has that athleticism and opportunity to make some noise, and did he ever, scoring the most points by a Sixers debut since Wilt Chamberlain. Not a terrible peer to be compared to I might say. 34 PTS, 7 REB, 3 AST and 1 STL is not going to happen every night, obviously, but with Paul George doing his best impersonation of Paul George, there’s no reason not to have Edgecombe rostered.
Anthony Edwards quietly scored 41 PTS in a win against the Blazers. And if we’re sticking with the quiet theme, Giannis Antetokounmpo casually dropped 37 points with 14 rebounds and 5 assists in a win against the hapless Wizards.
You want more silence-adjacent performances? How about aspiring environmentalist (so many references, so little time) Kawhi Leonard with an opening stat line of 10 PTS, 4 REB and 2 AST? Does that do anything for you? How about the entire Clippers roster? Obviously my inherent bias is speaking here, but the Clips are notorious slow starters now for three seasons in a row, so I’m not really seeing any takeaways here.
For what it’s worth, the Clippers do seem committed to keeping Bradley Beal (5 PTS) starting, but on a minutes restriction. And even though John Collins (14 PTS) is coming off the bench, 30 minutes was still there for him, so not a bad sign at all.
And I rarely get to break news when it happens, but just wanted to note that Chauncey Billups was just arrested by the FBI for alleged illegal gambling, including ties to the mafia. Which is impressive, both for the fact that mafia still exists and that there’s a Portland mafia. Do they do drive-bys on bikes naked and not take showers more than once a month?
The fantasy relevant part is that Terry Rozier was arrested as part of the long-running probe also dealing with gambling. Not that he was super fantasy-relevant, but, you know, he’s definitely going to have a tough time rebounding from last year’s season. He might have a tough time rebounding literally too…
Jay is a longtime Razzball everything who consumes an egregious amount of Makers Mark as a vehicle to gain wisdom and augment his natural glow. Living in the D.C. area, he also likes spending time visiting the local parks and feeding lettuce to any turtles he encounters, including Mitch McConnell.
