Grind City Media’s Lang Whitaker and Kelcey Wright Johnson weigh in on the most pertinent news from around the NBA. What’s lit? What’s lame? Find out each week right here.
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Monday, November 2, 2020 9:25 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: IMHO
Kelcey:
In honor of this being election week, let’s start this week’s column in Philadelphia, where some famous autographs were signed back in 1776. The Sixers have had a monumental offseason, parting ways with coach Brett Brown and replacing him with Doc Rivers, and then hiring former Rockets GM Daryl Morey to be in charge of their basketball operations. That’s a lot of moving and shifting around, and for a team that just years ago was sticking so closely to a process, things now seem to be a bit more fluid these days.
So if you’re Mr. Morey, what do you do? Do you move Ben Simmons? Trade Joel Embiid? Or do you try and do something with Al Horford or Tobias Harris, who are actually the two highest paid players on the roster? We know Morey will not throw away his shot. I’m just curious, if you were running the show in Philly, what would you do?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Monday, November 2, 2020 10:14 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
What’s up, Lang?
I’m toeing this weird line where what I *think* will happen and what I would *want* to see happen are two totally different things.
I’ll start with what I think is going to happen: Elton Brand has full-on come out and said Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid are not leaving Philly next season, so I think they get rid of Al Horford. He’s in the middle of a 4-year $109 million contract — Brand mentioned in an interview that he just wants to compliment those Embiid and Simmons better, so do they trade Horford and possible a couple second-round picks for someone like Andrew Wiggins from Golden State? Do they send Horford and another mid-level guy to the Thunder and lock-up a more veteran player like Chris Paul? Honestly, I don’t know what deal they look to make but I do know that I just don’t like the way Horford fits on this squad — they started to utilize him a bit better late in the season, but there is an upgrade out there and he’s got a pricey contract. Morey’s got to say bye.
What I would do if I was Morey is blow up the duo that clearly isn’t working. I would trade Ben Simmons and build this team around Joel Embiid. Finding a solid big man is much harder than finding a solid guard (who can’t shoot — sorry but I had to go there). The biggest argument here is that you have two generational talents who are young, so why not try it again under a different regime? But I think they blow it up and trade Simmons for another All-Star who comes with a bit more experience. I think Houston needs to split up Harden and Westbrook, maybe there’s a trade there that can be explored (oh my gosh, imagine Harden and Embiid). My main reason for wanting to trade Simmons though is essentially to let Embiid thrive — that sounds so cheesy but hear me out. Where does Embiid want the ball? The block. If Simmons doesn’t attempt deep shots, his defender can sag off and bring an extra presence to… THE BLOCK.
I said this all year; they’re both great players. They will both have great careers. Just not together. Simmons, if he doesn’t start ATTEMPTING shots, cannot play with a back-to-the-basket big man. And Embiid, if he doesn’t start not being a back-to-the-basket big man, needs to play with someone who is a threat from beyond the arc in order to space the floor.
That’s my rant for the day.
Let’s stay on the election week theme and move over to the Washington Wizards. What’s going to happen with John Wall and Bradley Beal over the next two seasons? Do you see them staying there long term together? Are all these NBA duos about to break up like a new season of “Love Island?”
From: Lang Whitaker
Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2020 9:34 AM
To: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Subject: RE: IMHO
The only thing that scares me about building around Embiid is he’s had a spotty injury history. Well, I guess it’s not the only thing – he’s also shown some flashes of immaturity that would make me nervous about handing over the keys to the kingdom. Simmons is clearly a special player, but I still think the Sixers need a more traditional point guard, for defensive purposes if nothing else. I’d give the Simmons/Embiid combo another year, and then if it doesn’t work, I’d move on.
And speaking of duos, you mentioned John Wall and Bradley Beal. And despite a strong recommendation from Jaren Jackson Jr., I’ve never watched “Love Island.” But I think what the Wizards have (very quietly) done over the last year or so has been pretty smart. They didn’t want Wall to get injured, obviously, but his recovery basically gave him a much-needed break. Over his first seven NBA seasons, Wall played 500 regular season games, which is a ton, particularly when you consider how physical Wall is when he plays. But due to injuries and recovery, Wall hasn’t played in an NBA game since December of 2018, which is an eternity—going on two years in a few weeks. I remember being in the building in Washington for Game 6 of the Wizards/Celtics series when John Wall drained this game-winning three, and I wondered if Wall was making that final step to the most elite level of PGs. Unfortunately, he’s been dealing with injuries basically ever since. Athletes rarely get time off, much less two full years to recover and get right. And from the video that was trending on Twitter this morning, Wall looks pretty, pretty good right now.
Meanwhile, Bradley Beal got to have a taste of what it’s like to be the lone big dog on an NBA team. There’s always been whispers of teams targeting Beal in trade talks or free agency to build around him, but I would suspect that now Beal completely understands what it’s like to get double-teamed every night, to be the sole focus of opposing defensive game plans. From my understanding, Wall and Beal get along well enough—at least they did a few years ago when I was hanging around. So, my guess is Beal can’t wait to get Wall back, to have someone share that load. And if Rui Hachimura keeps developing and the Wizards can add one more major player—maybe someone who can be a threat in the post or stretch the floor, like Al Horford!—I think they can be a problem pretty quickly in the East.
Since today is election day here in the great United States of America, let’s pivot to something (kinda) political: If you could have any current NBA player as president of the country where you live, which player would get your vote?
From: Kelcey Wright Johnson
Sent: Tuesday, November 3, 2020 2:50 PM
To: Lang Whitaker
Subject: Re: IMHO
Lang,
I live in Memphis but I’m originally from Canada, so I’ll start there.
My nominees for Canadian Prime Minster are Jamal Murray, Nick Nurse and Kawhi Leonard. I hope all of these are self-explanatory. My vote would go for Jamal Murray—a Canadian kid who never left the country for prep school and represents Canada very well on the floor. In my opinion, he’s the best Canuck in the league. He’s really into meditation and I think that would serve him well in office. But I do think that a majority of people would vote for Nick Nurse
As for America, my nominees would be LeBron James, Jaylen Brown, and an old-school Grizzlies player, Shane Battier. LeBron James has proven, to me at a least, that he’s smart and surrounds himself with smart businesspeople. He’s a great leader and is the best in the NBA in giving back and helping communities. Jaylen Brown is just a big smarty-pants; he studied magnet chemistry at UC Berkeley and knows like a million languages. I don’t know much more about him other than he’s a really intelligent dude. And then lastly, Battier is sort of the same thing. When I think of NBA player who are just really smart, he’s the first one that pops in my mind. I think I need more time to really sit down and think this over more… You’d pick someone wild like Draymond Green or Lance Stephenson, wouldn’t you Lang? From: Lang Whitaker Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 8:39 AM To: Kelcey Wright Johnson Subject: RE: IMHO LeBron would also be on my short list. Like you said, he’s a leader, he surrounds himself with great people, and despite being in a brightest of spotlights since he was in high school, he has an impeccable reputation. I think Draymond or Lance would be better suited for cabinet positions—perhaps Secretary of Defense or something along those lines. People always joke about Gregg Popovich and Steve Kerr running together, but I’d vote for them in a heartbeat if they actually ran. They’re both smart, they understand what it takes to win at the highest levels, and they clearly value service and sacrifice. But the current NBA player who I think really could run for office one day is Chris Paul. I first met him about a decade ago, and after spending time with him and his family, I was blown away by all the intangible qualities that are obvious with Chris. I don’t really know how to describe it—Chris just exudes leadership, character, intelligence, an ability to think on his feet, all the qualities you look for in someone you want to put in charge. It’s no surprise to me that in the decade since then, Chris has become the president of the NBA Player’s Association. I don’t know if he’s interested, but I wouldn’t be shocked if one day we see him in a bigger leadership role.