Links to the Present: Eastern Conference Muddle Edition

As the All Star Game approaches, there is no shortage of material upon which to reflect. And how much more terrain there is to cover when one simply looks beyond the major psychodramas. I am referring of course to Simmons-Harden-Irving-Durant (acronym not intended), that cluster of trade-curious, usually bench-bound, and often discontented divas. (H/T to CtB commenter Raoul for the last one of those formulations.) Even after the nominal resolution of their contracts and working conditions for the next three months or so, these superstars demand our attention.

Or do they? It actually isn’t obligatory to discuss the genius of Daryl Morey every day, after all, even if he does begin to resemble certain depictions of Mephistopheles as he ages. Nor must we discuss James Harden at all, unless doing a deep dive of his introductory press conference in Philadelphia — the verbal equivalent of a shrug — is your idea of entertainment. And it is certainly possible to get through the All Star break without so much as breathing a word into your mask or your shaking fist about the impact of New York City vaccination policies on Kyrie Irving who is not, in the end, the world’s most fascinating man. Leave that stuff to the big boys from Kent State, or Dartmouth — it needn’t detain us here.

Instead, with no pretenses to completeness, let’s have a slightly random look at some of the less magnetic teams in the East, where the Cleveland Cavs hold up the fourth seed. Below our beloved Cavs and the mighty Bucks, here is quite a muddle in the middle, so that is where I have concentrated my efforts.

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics have been on a tear. Ime Udoka’s club has vaulted into sixth place in the Eastern Conference, two games behind the Cavs. In the last month the Celtics have hung a 30-point loss on Miami, beat Brooklyn by 35 points in the Barclays Center, and stomped on Philadelphia 135-87 on the strength of 25 made three-pointers.

Before the trade deadline, Brad Stevens made a number of moves, rescuing two good players from losing teams in Texas — guard Derek White and center Daniel Theis. To get Derek White, the Celtics traded “Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, their first-round pick in the 2022 NBA Draft (top-four protected) and a potential first-round pick swap in 2028.” White is on a $70 million contract through 2025. Theis, traded from Houston for Dennis Schroeder, was none too cheap either; the German big man is due roughly $9 million per year into 2024.

The Celtics finally lost a game in February, faltering just before the break in a tight game and losing to Jerami Grant and the Detroit Pistons.

Detroit Pistons

Some developments occurred around the trade deadline with respect to the frontcourt in Motor City. The first was a reappearance: Kelly Olynyk has only played in 20 games this year, but is working his way back into the rotation, and had his best outing of the year against Boston. Probably more dramatic is the acquisition of Marvin Bagley III from Sacramento — Pistons GM Troy Weaver gave up quite a haul for this former top-five draft pick, sending out Josh Jackson, Trey Lyles, and two second round picks (sending the picks to the Bucks). Jackson is a kind of counterpart to Bagley — both are top-five overall picks who have not been able to find a starting role in the NBA.  interesting read on why the Pistons paid rather handsomely for a player who might have been available for far fewer assets in the off-season.

#Pistons Marvin Bagley can be a restricted free agent if they make a qualifying offer of $14.8M — which should happen.

Bagley is on the books for $11.8M this year, so DET added $3.8M by trading for him.

— Rod Beard (@detnewsRodBeard) February 10, 2022

New York Knicks 

There are any number of ways to describe the current state of the New York Knicks. The win-loss record, 25-34, means the Knicks are probably one bad post-break week away from definitively falling out of the play in picture.

The New York Post describes the interplay of Tom Thibodeau’s coaching decision with R.J. Barrett’s ankle injury:

Barrett got injured with 18 seconds left in a 17-point loss to the Nuggets last Tuesday. The Knicks were trailing 122-107 with 3:56 left in the fourth quarter when Thibodeau subbed Barrett back into the game, but the deficit never got any closer.

“You don’t look backwards,” Thibodeau said. “There’s different points, you look at the score, the time, and if you can make a run, then you take a shot at it. So that’s what we did.”

Unless your leg got amputated, you’re day to day in Thibs eyes

— Omar (@KingBacca22x) February 14, 2022

One year ago Julius Randle was named an All Star reserve, but there’s been little joy for him since last year’s five game first-round playoff series loss against Atlanta. As New York was about to conclude its embarrassing loss on Wednesday to Patty Mills, Marcus Aldridge, and a bunch of the Brooklyn Nets’ second stringers, Randle walked off the court without even looking to see if the Knicks’ last shot would go in. Evidently it is exhausting work trying to carry the New York Knicks franchise. Randle poured in 31 points and had praise for Coach Thibs after the game, but that sense of fatigue and frustration is palpable.

Charlotte Hornets

It’s possible that Hornets GM Mitch Kupchak had Cleveland’s size in mind at the trade deadline when he sent veteran backup guard Ish Smith back to Washington (along with center Vernon Carey and a second-round pick) for the sparkplug Montrezl Harrell. Harrell missed a chance to win the game at the free throw line versus Miami, but he seems to be fitting in well, and is a good fit for Charlotte’s timeline. At the start of the season Kupchak seemed to admit that Myles Plumlee was a temporary solution at center, and clearly saw no particular spark in Vernon Carey’s total four games of action off the bench at center.

It’s interesting that Charlotte pulled off a trade with Washington, given that both teams are essentially even in the standings and presently fighting with their divisional rivals Atlanta for a play-in spot.

Charlotte has lost its last seven home games. Gordon Hayward, making about $32 million this year, has started in 48 games for the club, but missed seven games due to COVID in January and then sprained his ankle six minutes into a loss against Toronto on February 7. He is out indefinitely.  P.J. Washington had been discussed as potential trade bait but stuck around — he logged 49 minutes in the double-overtime game vs. Miami and had both clutch shots and clutch defense down the stretch in that game. Sticking with the Detroit-centered look at the East, here he is in some action last week against the Pistons, which was also Harrell’s first game with his new team:

Washington Wizards

It has been a weird month in Washington. Bradley Beal was shut down for the year and Ish Smith is back to soak up more ball handling duties. The Wizards are awaiting the ability to deploy Kristaps Porzingis and try out any number of lineup combinations, including testing his fit with Kyle Kuzma. The importance of the Unicorn’s Latvian origins should not be underestimated, at least for the Wizards’ fan contingent of national security community wonks currently aching for any elliptical endorsement of NATO membership amid the Ukraine crisis. (Latvia joined the security alliance in 2004.)

Having gone 4-5 so far in the month of February, the Wizards seem to be in a kind of stasis. Rui Hachimura has been back on the court for about five weeks and had his best game of the season against Brooklyn, making hustle plays, beating Andre Drummond to the rack, scoring 20 and looking like a young Giannis Antetoukoumpo at times. Whether or not this roster can be more than the sum of its parts remains to be seen.

Tristan Thompson

Former Cavs iron man Tristan Thompson is reported to be aimed for his third team of this season, having been moved from Sacramento to Indiana, and now on to Chicago. There will surely be a great deal of ink spilled on this subject in the weeks and months to come, not least because he’s back in the East and playing for a contender again.

But for now, it’s worth revisiting an uncensored version of his Marc Antony moment from November, the soliloquy known as “No man in this world…”