The Atlantic Division

The new season is upon us, and the division previews are here. There are some contenders and some bottom feeders with a plan in the Atlantic. It will be a fun division to watch this year and into the future.

 

Toronto - jessedunne

The Raptors have a fine group of players, and with the 8^th overall pick in the initial NSL draft, you would hope they would. They initially drafted Durant, but Jesse isn’t one to sit on his hands and wait out a season. The team trades Durant for Damian Liddard to pair with NBA backcourt buddy, CJ McCollum. The team continues to make acquisitions and trades, bringing in Draymond Green and Nikola Vucevic. All of a sudden you have an extremely strong 4 and a collection of pieces that if used right could be a very competitive team. But just as you thought it was safe to think this team was set, they make the move to switch up the backcourt by trading CJ McCollum for Jrue Holiday. I personal love the move. Don’t get me wrong CJ is a fantastic player, but now you have an elite scoring guard in Dame and and an elite scoring big in Vuc. They naturally get paired with elite defenders in Draymond and Jrue. The team is really balanced. Throw in Aron Baynes and Richaun Holmes who are having career NBA years each, you’ve got the start of something. The wings will be where this team falls apart, they’ve got about 6 guys who are 24 or 25 that play on the wing who are gritty players, but not overly talented.  

 

Brooklyn - breece

The Nets in contrast to the Raptors, did nothing after they drafted in the 27^th position in the initial NSL draft. They picked an excellent centre in Andre Drummond, and paired him with a pick an roll partner in Kemba Walker. They picked up Jarrett Culver in the rookie draft who will add some spark into the line-up. Beyond that they have a lot of uninspiring players. Zubac might be something, but he probably wont. Same can be said for Willie Cauley-Stein. Patrick Mills will add some spice, but he will only get limited minutes behind Kemba. Similar to Toronto the wings are gritty, with a slight lean towards hitting the occasional 3 pt shot which will help spread the floor for the main event in the pick and roll. The team screams middle of the pack.

 

Philadelphia - Nenjabin

How did a team who drafted 24^th end up with so much talent on the team? Oh, that’s right, its managed by Nenjabin. Another hallmark of Nenjabin’s GM tenure is the addition of 3 draft rights out of the initial draft, while also having 3 other rookies on the team. The team has made a few trades since inception, which netted all the draft picks that lead to the rookies, the other major trade was the addition on the cheap of Hassan Whiteside.

Let’s break this team down, Ruby Gobert, was the first pick by the team. Followed by MVP candidate Pascal Siakam in round two. The real kick in the teeth came in round 4 when the team picks up Chris Paul, who no one wanted because of his contract. All of a sudden, you’ve got a pick and roll combination and a attacking wing threat to build around. Savvy role players such as Danuel House Jr, sophomore Troy Brown, and deep threat Bogdan Bogdanovic.

But of course, the luck/skill doesn’t stop there for Philly. The 29^th pick in the rookie draft, just happens to get a huge rating boost before the season starts in a position (power forward) that was the weakest link in the team. All this team need to do it work together and they will be the main challenger for the Atlantic Division.

 

New York - smokey

Drafting from 13^th in the inaugural draft the Knicks signed Paul George and Jaylen Brown with their first two picks, but they barely got to see the bright lights of the city before being sent to San Antonio, poor souls. A pick and roll tandem was brought in with the trade, D’Angelo Russell and Clint Capela. But Clint didn’t want to hang around, so goodbye Clint, hello Derrick Favours and a couple of picks. Time drifts by a couple of moments. Goodbye Derrick, hello scrubs and (here’s where it starts to become a theme) a future pick.

I’m not going to spend much time on the New York roster, because for smokey and the Knicks, it’s not about this season, it’s next season or the season after. They’ve got two good building block currently left in Brandon Ingram and Dangelo Russell. Bobby Portis isn’t a scrub, and Monte Morris still has potential. The rest is fodder and flyers. Sure Jerome Robinson or Jakob Poetl might become good NLL players, but right now they are a step behind.

I respect smokey and how he builds his teams. I don’t believe we are going to see the Process here, this isn’t going to be a multi-year build. This is reminiscent of NLL Dallas a few years ago when they blew it up, and then 6 months later, a serial contender. Sure this year will be a tank year, but come draft day 2020 or 2021 we might see some of these picks trade up for stars. Buy picks after the draft, sell them before the draft, simple timing the market. They will be the 2^nd worst team in the Atlantic

 

Boston - Toby

There are many ways to build a contender. One way is to draft your Lebron’s and your AD’s and add complementary pieces around them to fill out the roster, make some smart trades and try build that talent. Another way is Boston’s way, which is kind of “The Process”, but just a few years in.

With the 18^th pick of the NSL draft, the Boston Celtics select…. Jayson Tatum. Nothing wrong with going young with a centrepiece of the team. With the Celtics 2^nd selection of the NSL draft… John Collins. Hmm, another young piece…..

All of a sudden the draft is completed and the team is sitting there with 15 guys 24 or younger. The beauty about this team, is that it will be a fun one to own. So much youth, so much potential. Even Portland’s 10^th round selection Kenrich Williams is fun to watch in the NBA who found his way to Boston in a trade for Elfrid Payton. Anfernee Simons, definitely a fun watch in the NBA. Darius Garland, Furkhan Korkmaz, Cedi Osman, Nassir Little, Carson Edwards…. So much fun.

But when it comes to winning NLL games this season. It’s a no from me.

 

Prediction.

At the end of the season, we will see

Toronto

Philadelphia

Brooklyn

New York

Boston