NBA restart talking points: Have your say on Andy Brassell's top storylines to follow
Wednesday 29 July 2020 15:10, UK
European football expert and NBA fan Andy Brassell joins Sky Sports NBA to discuss his top three NBA resumption talking points. Read his restart takes then have your say by voting in our polls.
If you know Brassell from his writing or his podcasts - including On The Continent, Ramble Meets..., At The Match and The Jules and Andy Show for Football Ramble Daily, you will also be aware he is a huge NBA fan.
With the NBA restart just one day away, we asked Andy for three storylines he will be following with keen interest when the seeding games resume, live on Sky Sports, late of Thursday night at Disney World in central Florida.
'No team benefits more from hiatus than Clippers'
Think of the excitement we had when the Clippers and Lakers met on opening night back in October. We saw them meet on Christmas Day, too. Now we are restarting with Clippers @ Lakers, that's fantastic. The struggle between them and is going to be amazing.
Even given how much has changed since the start of the season - which seems about a million years ago now - I keep coming back to Lakers versus Clippers. The Milwaukee Bucks are in the mix as well, but I cannot see a champion beyond those three.
I really want to see where the Clippers are at. They were only really starting to come together when the NBA stopped in March. They had a very patchy season. They reminded me of one of the second-era LeBron-Cavaliers teams. There was loads of talent, but they were learning as they went along. They were far stronger at the end of the season than they were at the beginning.
If you look at the Clippers, I cannot think of a team that benefits more, when you think about how long the NBA season is, from having time to do remedial fitness work - in terms of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.
Everyone says they are feeling great when they're coming off a break, but if George really has got the benefit of the break that he says he has, the rest of the NBA better watch out because PG and Kawhi at full tilt having had a suitable amount of rest makes it really difficult for everyone else.
You always feel like Kawhi is managing his fitness during the season. That's just part of how he plays the game now, and he was able to produce an incredible level for the Raptors last season, especially in the playoffs.
If the Clippers have got Kawhi and Paul George close to their peak, they could be the team to watch. They have strengthened the squad quite nicely as well. If they have got their best two players in a better place, that's a huge advantage for them. They are champing at the bit. I think they are super-ready.
Who will challenge Milwaukee in the East?
I'm really interested to see who can step up in the East and really challenge the Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks were having a fantastic regular season. It was slightly stunted towards the end by the absence of Giannis, but he will be back and firing for them which is great.
There's no doubt about Giannis at all, but I'm really interested to see how the rest of the roster does when it gets to the back end of the playoffs. That's what I want to know. At that point, can the other teams challenge them?
The Raptors are better than anyone reasonably thought they would be. I think Boston are growing as they go along.
The one I'm really interested in is Miami. I'm wondering if they can do something. The main headlines are Jimmy Butler - playoff Butler is going to be great again. Then you have Bam Adebayo having his best-ever season. I think he has a great shout for Most Improved Player - it's probably between him and New Orleans Pelicans wing Brandon Ingram.
There's Derrick Jones Jr, the experience of Andre Iguodala, a shooter in Duncan Robinson. There's a lot there to work with. I don't want to jump the gun with Miami, but they could be getting towards their best incarnation since LeBron left.
We have not even talked about Philadelphia! The 76ers have got far more existential questions to answer, really. If they do not get to the Eastern Conference Finals, are they going to move away from having both Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid? Can Brett Brown go on if they do not get to the conference finals? For them, it's pretty much a go-big-or-go-home moment.
'Big teams to miss out on West playoffs'
Big teams are going to miss out on the Western Conference playoffs. I am pretty sure the Spurs and the Trail Blazers are not going to make it.
The big thing for Portland is Jusuf Nurkic coming back. Carmelo Anthony slimming down is really interesting as well and they will be able to deploy him slightly differently. But it is really about Nurkic. It's such a massive upgrade from where they were. He is obviously such a loved character there as well. It's an enormous morale-boost for them.
With the Spurs, you also feel they have semi-shut down, because LaMarcus Aldridge is not going to be able to be able to play. They have got some young players to work with; Dejounte Murray and Derrick White. But it's going to be a strange way in which their record-equalling 22-season playoff run is going to end.
A lot of people will be sad if the Spurs and the Blazers do not make it. I think it has very different meanings and very different consequences for those teams. For the Blazers, it's such an enormous step back after last season whereas the gradual regression of the Spurs has been a thing for a long time, and they have been resisting just blowing it up, perhaps until the end of the Popovich era.
I think Memphis are going hold on to the eighth seed in the West. Ja Morant has been amazing.
I'm interested to see what condition Zion Williamson makes it back in. But it is worth underlining the Pelicans are a good team without him. The thing is with the Pelicans, if they can get Zion back, then great. They can have some amazing momentum. But because his first season has been up and down, and you have had the impression they are managing him and his physical form and they are just being super-careful with him, I do not think we can really rely on Zion just yet.
Whereas what Morant has done for the Grizzlies has been incredible. They are so far ahead of where anyone expected them to be. He is hands down Rookie of the Year. He deserves the playoffs. It's no knock on Zion, he will be there time and again, I am sure. But I would love to see Ja in the playoffs now. He deserves it after this season.
The NBA season restarts late on Thursday night, live on Sky Sports Arena. Tune in at 10pm for a full build-up followed by Utah Jazz @ New Orleans Pelicans (tip-off 11:30pm) and LA Clippers @ Los Angeles Lakers (tip-off 2am).
