(NBA 2K23) Changing the Landscape of the NBA.

[Deuce2223]

The season is over and the Playoff Brackets are set. It's not very often that you look up and see teams like the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers and the Miami Heat all sitting at home but this wasn't a normal year.

WESTERN CONFERANCE

Seattle managed to hold onto the Northwest Division by 1 game over the Trail Blazers, with the Sonics landing the #2 seed and Portland dropping all the way down to the #7. They will face off against #8 San Antonio in the Play in Round

Both Utah and Denver make the playoffs as the #9 and #10 seeds and will face off against each other for a outside chance at making it in.

Houston held onto the #1 seed and like Seattle will wait to see who their next opponent will be.

Las Vegas ended up beating the Warriors by 1 game. The Hustlers finished (39-43) but get the #3 seed as division champs, well the Warriors went (38-44).

Oklahoma City was the #1 seed last season but will start their quest this year as the #6. Most expect them to breeze past Vegas in Round 1.


EASTERN CONFERANCE

The New York Knicks despite a sub .500 record (37-45) make the playoffs as the #10 seed and will face #9 Washington well Philly and Boston normally top seeds in the East will square off against each other this year as the #7/#8 seeds.

Cleveland goes in as the #1 well Detroit lands the #2 seed (I am not sure how this happens cause I thought division winners got the #1-3 seeds).

Charlotte holds onto the Southwest Division by 2 games and gets the #3 seed but will face Division rival Atlanta in the 1st Round as the Hawks get the #6 seed.

Toronto and Brooklyn tied with a (49-33) record in the Atlantic and will see each other in the 1st Round as the #4/#5 seeds.

LUKA DONIC NAMED MVP

Donic edged out Cleveland's Lebron James and and Darius Garland for the Regular season MVP.

Luka averaged 26.2 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 9.5 APG and 1.3 SPG well shooting 53% FG and 45% from 3PT.

James finished what should be his last season with a 22.8 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 7.7 APG, 1.5 SPG and 1.2 BPG average well shooting 51% FG and 32% from 3PT.

Garland finished averaging 24.5 PPG, 2.6 RPG, 11.7 RPG, 1.2 SPG well shooting 52% FG and 42% from 3PT.

INDIANA'S DYLAN HARPER WINS ROY

The #2 Pick in the draft came in and replaced Tyrese Haliburton perfectly averaging 18.4 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 6.8 APG, 1.5 SPG well starting 73/82 games.

Teammate Cody Williams the #4 pick finished 2nd in the vote. He averaged 14.0 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 4.5 APG and shot 41% from 3PT.

**I should've never made the trade and kept both players**

SIMMONS 3PEAT'S AS 6TH MAN OF THE YEAR

Ben Simmons career as the #1 Overall Pick in the 2016 Draft looked destine to be a bust, but Simmons has found a home and a playing style in Brooklyn since leaving Philly.

Simmons not only was named 6th Man of the Year for a 3rd straight year but was also named to the NBA 1st Team All-Defense.

Simmons averaged 13.5 PPG, 8.9 RPG, 9.3 APG and 2.2 SPG this season. He shot 62% from the Field, 29% from 3PT and 60% from the line.

[Deuce2223]

PLAY IN GAME ROUND

PORTLAND FALLS IN THE WEST

The Portland Trail Blazers were 1 game away from the Northwest Division Title and the #2 seed. Instead they are knocked out of the playoffs in the "Play In Round" first losing to San Antonio who claims the #7 seed and will face #2 Seattle and then losing again to division rival Utah who beat Denver and Portland to advance and claim the #8 seed and a chance to face #1 Houston.


BOSTON AND PHILLY ADVANCE IN THE EAST

Washington and New York come up short in their quest for a playoff win. Boston won their matchup with Philly to claim the #7 seed and a matchup with Charlotte well Philly beat New York to advance as the #8 seed and will take on Cleveland.

[Deuce2223]

SONICS VS SPURS REMATCH

These 2 Franchises have had their battles over the year's with one of the memorable being the 2002 1st Round Battle as well as the 2005 Semi Finals Battle as well as last year's matchup.

Both teams made some major moves this off-season. Can Tyrese Haliburton help guide the Sonics to back to back titles? Is Paul George the veteran pierce to help guide the young Spurs in their quest for the team's 6th NBA title but first since 2014.

George has had a injury free year starting 82/82 games for the Spurs and is 2nd on the team in scoring behind Wemby with a 19.2 PPG 4.4 RPG, 4.9 APG, 1.9 SPG season.

Haliburton tied Ingram for 2nd on the team with 18.0 PPG well leading the team in assists with 10.5 PPG.

HC Gary Payton

Quote:

"Both PG and Hali are great players and I expect both will have some big games in this series. PG has take a little bit of a backseat to Wemby well Hali has had to share alot of the scoring load with Williamson and Ingram but both players have the capabilty of putting up 30 points a night when called upon"

WEMBY VS THE 3-HEADED MONSTER

All eyes will be on 7'5 Victor "Wemby" Wembanyama. The 22 yr old has become a NBA star in just 3 seasons averaging 22,5 PPG, 11.9 RPG, 2.5 APG, 1.4 SPG and 2.8 BPG, well shooting 50% FG, 36% from 3PT and 88% from FT.

Jarrett Allen is gone, and Seattle will try and combat the 7'5 Giant with 3 of their own 7 footers.

7'1 Derek Lively III will get the start and the bulk of the playing time but 7'0 Aaron Bradshaw and 7'0 Kelan Ware will both see action as well as Coach Payton will play the hot hand.

Payton "Obviously a "Hack a Shack" defensive strategy doesn't work with Wemby as he is solid from the line. The key to slowing him down is just making him take bad shots"

WHO CAN STAY HEALTHY

Seattle got quite the surprise when Jordan Hawkins broken leg injury turned out to just be a stress facture that has healed enough for him to suit up for the series.

Now it's teammate Dyson Daniels who goes into the series with a bruised shoulder that could limit his playing time

GM Ryan Derozan

Quote:

"Our doctors think Double D can play but honestly we rather have him at full strength later on the playoffs if we can advance. With Jordan back he and Tre Johnson can carry most of the minutes backing up the the #2 Guard as well as SF and Bradshaw/Ware/Finney-Smith cover the post"

For San Antonio it looks like SG Malaki Branaham (78 Ovr) is listed Day to Day with Back Spasms. The #20 pick in the 2022 draft has come into his own this season averaging a career high 10.4 PPG, 2.4 RPG, 1.7 APG well shooting 39% from 3PT playing in 80 games.

[Deuce2223]

SONICS SWEPT IN 1ST ROUND!!!

Could GM Ryan Derozan's job be in jeopardy. The Defending Champs looks nothing of the part playing with just 2 returning starters (Ingram/Williamson) as they go into the 1st Round completely flat.

GAME 1 (LOST 122-95)

Seattle managed just 12 points in the opening quarter as the Spurs take a (28-12) lead. The Sonics rebounded with a good 2nd Quarter outscoring the Spurs (39-34) but came out of the locker room in the 2nd half and put up just 20 points in the 3rd Quarter going into the 4th down by 22.

Seattle didn't have a singe player score over 20 points with Williamson leading the way with 16 points. Cam Thomas managed to put up 14 points but was 1/10 from 3PT as the Sonics finished the night just 8-30 from beyond the arc.

Paul George (22 pts 8 reb 6 ast) and Wemby (20 pts 11 reb 4 ast 4 stl and 3 blks) led the way for the Spurs.


GAME 2 (LOST 145-125)

Again Seattle came out flat in the opening quarter trailing (38-18) and that's what they lost by (20 pts).

8 players scored double digits for San Antonio led by Wembanyama's 25 pts 9 reb 4 ast and 4 blks.

Williamson had 39 points in the loss (15-20 from the FT) Thomas rebounded back to hit 3/5 from 3PT and finished with 25 pts, well Ingram also had 25 pts.

Haliburton was 3/4 from deep and finished with 13 pts 6 reb 14 ast and 3 steals.

GAME 3 (LOST 139-134 IN OT)

Seattle just ran out of gas. A slow start was overcome by a (37-22) 2nd Quarter as the Sonics went into the locker room up (65-58) but San Antonio erased the lead in the 3rd taking a 5 point lead into the 4th. Ingram hit a bucket with 4 seconds to play to tie the game but the Spurs missed the buzzer beater as we went to Overtime.

Ingram finished the night with 32 pts 5 reb 6 ast and was 6/10 from deep. Williamson had 23 pts 6 reb 8 ast and 3 steals.

Haliburton had 16 pts 5 reb 10 assists but was just 3/12 from 3PT.

Wemby led the Spurs with 34 pts and 16 rebouds. Zach Collins had a huge night with 24 pts and 8 rebounds off the bench.

[Deuce2223]

PLAYOFF RECAP

1ST ROUND

#1 Seed Houston made quick work of #8 Utah with a 3 game sweep.

#5 Dallas took the series in 5 games (3-2) against #4 Memphis

#3 Las Vegas swept #6 Oklahoma City 3-0 to advance. This is the 2nd straight year Oklahoma City has lost in the 1st Round.

#1 Cleveland swept the 76er's 3-0

#5 Brooklyn took the 5 game series (3-2) over #4 Toronto

#3 Charlotte sweeps #6 Atlanta 3-0

#2 Detroit sweeps #7 Boston 3-0.

SEMI FINALS

Houston advances with a (3-2) series win over Dallas

San Antonio sweeps the Hustlers 3-0

Brooklyn knocks off Cleveland with the upset (3-1)

Detroit sweeps the Hornets (3-0)

CONFERENCE FINALS

The Rockets take the 7 games series (4-3) over the Spurs ending San Antonio's quest for a 6th title. The Rockets are heading to the Championship for the 1st time since 1995 when they won back to back (1994/1995).



Brooklyn upsets Detroit in 7 games winning (4-3). This is the Franchises 1st Conference Championship in over 20 years (last won in 2002) and the Nets have never won a NBA Championship.

[Deuce2223]

ROCKETS WIN THE CHIP!!!

Houston took Game 1 with a big (143-118) win.

Brooklyn tied it up in Game 2 with a (109-105) win.

Houston took Game 3 (130-118) despite 46 points from Mikal Bridges.

Brooklyn tied the series again 2-2 with a (134-125) win, Bridges scored 41 in the win.

Houston takes Game 5 (111-95), Bridges again led all scorers with 28 points, but the Rockets got double digits from their entire starting 5.

Houston wins it in Game 6 (107-105). Bridges has 43 points in the loss.

For the Playoffs Bridges averaged 32.9 PPG (he averaged 29.2 PPG in the regular season).

Alphren Sengun edged out Jalen Green for the Finals MVP. Sengun averaged 16.9 PPG, 10.7 RPG, 6.5 APG 1.4 APG, 1.3 BPG. Green averaged 24.7 PPG, 3.5 RPG, 4.5 APG and shot 48% from 3PT.

**Herb Jones and John Wall repeat as NBA Champs, just on a different team. Jones averaged 9.7 PPG during the regular season and 9.2 PPG during the playoffs, Wall averaged 8.2 PPG and 3.4 APG during the regular season but was a DNP during the Finals.**

[Deuce2223]

JAMES/DEROZAN/WESTBROOK AND MORE CALL IT QUITS

Lebron James, Russell Westbrook and DeMar DeRozan headline a huge group of players who have decided to call it quits.

Brook Lopez, Danilo Gallinari, Gordon Hayward, PJ Tucker, John Wall, Tim Hardaway Jr, Jae Crowder, Blake Griffin, Bismack Biyombo, Derrick Favors, DeMarcus Cousins, Bojan Bogdanovic also call it quits.

KERR AND CARLISLE HANG IT UP

Steve Kerr is officially stepping down as the Golden State Warriors Head Coach after missing the playoffs this season. With Klay Thompson's retirement up in the air (I made him come back) and Stephen Curry's F.A. status, it appears it could be rebuild time in Golden State.

Rick Carlisle coached in the league 33 years and despite getting great play from some high draft picks this past season, the Pacers are still several years away from competing.

LEBRON AND RUSS GOING INTO THE HALL

Lebron played in 1607 games in his career and averaged 26.4 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 7.4 APG and 1.5 SPG. Winning 4 MVP's and making 21 All-Star games. He was a 4 time Champion and a 4 time Finals MVP winner, as well as named to 15 NBA 1st Teams and was named to the NBA 1st Team All-Defense 7 times.

Russ played in 1168 games and averaged 21.4 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 8.0 APG and 1.5 SPG. He won 1 MVP and was a 9 time All-Star.

Miami retires the King's #6, well Cleveland and Los Angeles both retire #23.

Oklahoma City retires Westbrook's #0.

** Blake Griffin had his #32 retired by the Clippers.

NBA LEAGUE MEETINGS

The League Approved 5 rule changes this year. Despite 4 new Expansion teams joining the league this season (Kansas City, Louisville, San Diego and Virginia), owners and Commish Adam Silver have announced they are leaving the door open for 2 more teams to potentially join the league in the coming years to make it a full 36 team league with 18 teams per Conference and 6 teams per Divisions.

With the rising salaries of players and the NBA bringing in bigger pay day's via TV deals, the League has announced there will be a 15.00 M increase to the Salary Cap and a 5.00 M increase to the Luxury Tax threshold, which could allow more teams to hold onto the aging veterans but also allow more teams to keep and retain their some of their youth as well.

With the addition of new teams comes more players playing in the NBA. Now with 34 rosters to scout and evaluate, Teams will have 1 extra week before the Trade Deadline to make deals.

Division winners will no longer automatically get the Top-3 Playoff seeds in each conference. This would've been huge this season, as Las Vegas would've been a #9/10 seed well Portland would've gotten the #3 seed finishing with the 3rd best record in the West.


CONFERENCE REALIGNMENT

San Diego will join the Pacific Division well Kansas City well join the Southwest.

Louisville joins the Central Division, Washington is moving from the Southeast to the Atlantic with Virginia joining the Southeast.

The Northwest will have 5 teams with rumors of Vancouver making a push to join the league, well the Southeast will have 5 teams. Rumors are Florida is making a push to add a 3rd Franchise in either Jacksonville or Tampa, but we are also told St Louis could join the Central or we could see a return of Minnesota, with Louisville moving to the Southeast in coming years.

[Deuce2223]

HEAT GETS LUCKY BOUNCE NABS #1

Miami and Denver get lucky with the ping pong balls, as both teams jump into the Top-3 with Miami getting the #1 and Denver securing the #2. Now the question is does Miami take Copper Flagg or Cameron Boozer and does this pick keep Lillard in South Beach for 1 more year?

Seattle, Milwaukee and Orlando become the big losers tonight with the addition of the 4 Expansion Franchises as their once Top-5 picks before #8,#9 and #10.

The Sonics will have the #9 pick (via the Bucks) for the 2nd straight year well Milwaukee's (Sacramento Pick) falls to #10.

Here is a look at the entire Lottery Selection that now sits at the First 18 picks.

#1 Miami
#2 Nuggets
#3 Oklahoma City (via the Clippers)
#4 San Diego
#5 Louisville
#6 Kansas City
#7 Virginia
#8 Orlando
#9 Seattle
#10 Milwaukee
#11 Los Angeles Lakers
#12 Indiana
#13 Brooklyn (via Phoenix)
#14 San Antonio (via Chicago)
#15 New York
#16 Golden State
#17 Washington
#18 Portland

THE REST OF THE 1ST ROUND

#19 Milwaukee (via Las Vegas)
#20 Portland (via Boston)
#21 Utah
#22 San Antonio
#23 Oklahoma City (via Philly)
#24 San Antonio (via Atlanta)
#25 Los Angeles Clippers (via OKC swap)
#26 Houston (via Seattle)
#27 Houston (via Brooklyn)
#28 Toronto
#29 Seattle (via Charlotte)
#30 Indiana (via Dallas)
#31 Memphis
#32 Detroit
#33 Utah (via Cleveland)
#34 Brooklyn (via Houston)

**The Bucks have 2 picks in the Top-20 as do Portland well the Spurs have 3 picks in the first 24. I would expect to see some wheeling and dealing before the draft**