2021 NBA Pointless Trade Idea

(This would technically be for next year, as I'm using 2021-22 payroll here. I believe, though, this could be executed as soon as the Championship is done in that free for all few period before the draft (although I might be wrong about that). At any rate, this isn't for right now but for the summer.)

Cavs get: Brandon Ingram (4yr/$130m), Eric Bledsoe (2yr/$37-ish), Steven Adams (2yr/$34m)

Pelicans get: Kevin Love (2yr/$60m), Taurean Prince (1yr/$15m), Larry Nance (2yr/$20m), Cedi Osman (3yr/$21-ish)

I gotta say: this is totally motivated by the frustration of watching Ingram try to ballhog on Zion, who is the most unstoppable offensive force in the league right now. Zion is James Harden, but fun to watch. Trying to pair him with Ingram is just going to make my head hurt. You're not getting rid of Zion, so how do you move on from Ingram?

If the Cavs believe that Ingram can be the kind of scorer that Ingram's contract suggest he can, then it'll be worth it to pair him with Garland and Sexton for the long term. Add in Jarrett Allen, then rotate vets for defense, bench, assists, corner 3's, etc., and that's a promising nucleus. 

Also, the Cavs get off their four biggest contracts: an overpaid vet who needs a change a scenery, a nice wing defender on an expiring contract, an exciting down low defender that isn't really part of the future plans, a nice but unspectacular SG (that needs a change of scenery). So no big loss on or off the court. Does getting back two crappy vets (Bledsoe and Adams) make it worth it? I'd say it does. Adams is making a cringe-inducing $27m this year, but that goes down to two years of $17m each next year; not great, but not uncommonly expensive. As for Bledsoe, the second year of his deal isn't guaranteed, making his $18.1 due next year into a (sorta) expiring deal which might be attractive to some playoff squad (*). In both cases, they can still give you minutes and if they get crowded out by the youth movement, then so be it. So instead of 2yrs to Love and Nance and 3yrs to Osman, it's now just 1 year of Bledsoe and maybe 2 years of Adams in order to lock down a good young scorer for 4yrs. This move would be decisive for the Cavs, if you think Ingram can be a top flight scorer (eh, it's possible) and that he meshes with Garland and/or Sexton (also possible), then this shores up their future core, along with Jarrett Allen. And it gets them off declining contracts in favor of workable contracts while ushering out the old world, ushering in the new.

The Pelicans get rid of Ingram (he has to go) and Bledsoe (don't need him, he can go) and Adams (best years are probably behind him), to bring some help for Zion. Kevin Love needs a rebuild, to be rejuvenated and a defensive wingman that can go get rebounds and knock down a 3 is exactly what Zion needs. Larry Nance provides defensive help and a fun offensive partner for Zion to work with. Taurean Prince gives worthwhile minutes off the bench if nothing else (and is very trade-able). Cedi Osman is an Evan Fournier-ish SG can that knock down 3's on the move. These all are better for Zion than Ingram (ball hog), Bledsoe (unreliable), or Adams (clogs the middle). Also, I think these are more trade-able contracts as they mature, so nothing is locked in as much as Ingram is now. 

I know this deal looks like trading too much for too much, but the numbers are eerily perfect (Pelicans $64.5m/Cavs $64.9m) and I really do think the potential of these players and these contracts benefits the opposite teams more than the current ones. Also I feel like both teams are making a roughly equal gamble: is Ingram worth the long term money and can Love be a top flight player again? They're both currently coming up with negative answers but they could swap their questions to find new answers.  

I like this deal, I think it benefits both teams, make sense for all the players and the contract situations should transfer nicely. Call it in. 

(*) It's only a matter of time before Bledsoe ends up back with the Clippers, don't ya think? $18m for the new Lou Williams? Totally sounds like something the Clipper brass can talk themselves into. 

2021 Masters

I'm really not much of a golf guy, I've got enough sports going on. But I love the Masters and I like really digging into it the way I just dug into the NCAA tourney. Something about springtime makes me want to appreciate nature from indoors. On Thursday and Friday I watched ESPN+ for holes 4,5,6 and then 15,16. It's an interesting way to watch, to perch at a coupla holes and watch everybody that passes through rather than following a specific group or getting random highlights from around the whole course. On Saturday and Sunday, I mostly watched the CBS coverage (seeing new holes was liked I unlocked the next level of the game!), but I'd go back to the ESPN+ from time to time. 

On Thursday, Justin Rose killed it on the back nine, jumped out to the early -7 lead. He had the best Thursday and he rode that to a top-10 finish. Nice work.

Hideki Matsuyama (*spoiler alert* the dude that won) was there at (-3), as was Will Zalatoris (-2) just behind him. I don't watch much golf, gotta admit, I didn't know either of these dudes. But they were both better on Saturday than Friday and that's why they were both still in it on Sunday. 

On Friday, Zalatoris was really good again, Tony Finau made a run, and Justin Rose just kinda hung around. Matsuyama was under par but didn't really shine out. Bubba Watson and Tommy Fleetwood were the two that I felt might make a run but neither of them ever really got into the mix.  

Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlory, and Patrick Cantlay were some of the heavier hitters that didn't make the cut. Patrick Reed and Bryson DeChambeau made the cut but never really felt like they were gonna make a run. 

On Saturday, there was a rain delay of a coupla hours in the middle of the afternoon. The early golfers had already finished, so this mostly just hit the top of the table guys. After the delay, Matusyama went nuts on the back nine. Something about the rain changed up those greens and he was murdering his approach shots, sticking 'em on the green like Eastern European gymnasts. It was on the back nine on Saturday where he ran off left everybody. 

Schauffele was good, too, on Saturday, not as good as Matsuyama but pretty much, along with Zalatoris, the only one that had a shot at catching up with Matsuyama. 

Worst final round: Francesco Molinari. Ahhh, man, got off to a bad start and just looked like he wanted to be just about anywhere but playing golf on this day. He was rough to watch. 

On Sunday, I gotta admit: I didn't think Matsuyama would hold up. I thought, like Justin Rose on Thursday, he just got hot at the right time and he wouldn't be able to hold it. In my defense, he did go +1 for the day and when he bogeyed the 1st hole, I thought the collapse was coming. But he righted the ship and shot quite well, extending his lead for a while, and even his bogey on the 18th was pure defense, the smart play to use the cushion to avoid a bigger mistake. He really clamped down on Sunday and it was an impressive win. I didn't think he was gonna do it and he flat the fuck out did. 

Unfortunately, Matsuyama dominated so well that the only real moment of drama on Sunday was Xander Schauffele going in the drink on 16. At -10 he was really the only one that had a shot at catching Matsuyama and he had to make a big play at 16. Hey, man, ESPN+ showed me all week long that 16 was murdering people and I figured Matsuyama would play it safe, maybe even give up a stroke. Schauffele thought he had a chance to make up ground and he went for it...and it did not work. He rolled off into the water (a recurring image of the 2021 Masters) and his +3 on 16 knocked him out of the running. 

I was really impressed with Will Zalatoris, a dude I had never heard of before. That guy was in it to win it all the way and I respected that. He was kinda up and down, especially down the stretch but he hit some big shots, thought he acquitted himself admirably. Jon Rahm went hog nutty on Sunday, shooting -6 after going E in each of the first three rounds (a kinda strange accomplishment); he had the newborn kid thing going, maybe it kept him cautious during the week allowing him to rip it on Sunday. Good stuff! It got him a top 5 finish when I otherwise didn't much notice him. Jordan Spieth tied for 3rd....uh, I don't remember even seeing him once throughout the whole thing (how does that happen?).  

Phil Mickelson was fun to watch throughout, not like he was gonna turn up on Sunday but he had a coupla nice runs in him on Friday and Saturday. And I dug seeing Fred Couples, Jose Maria Olazabal ("a delightful man" the ESPN+ commentators pointed out...about 100 hundred times in the two minutes he was on screen) and Bernhard Langer, dudes that were around when I was a kid.

Felt like more of a crowd than I've seen on TV in a while, and that's encouraging.

2021 NCAA Final Four (the after)

(2) Houston 59-78 (1) Baylor

Houston started slow, Baylor just kept hitting shots. Not a bad game, Baylor took control quickly and kinda squelched out Houston. Good run for Houston, good season, they dominated most everyone they played til the Final Four, that's not bad. 

Baylor is good, man, I'm really beginning to appreciate what good on-ball defenders they are and what good shooters they are. They're a surprisingly deep squad, too. 

(11) UCLA 90-93 (OT) (1) Gonzaga

Amazing game! Back and forth, buzzer beater finish, two good scoring squads just wailin' on each other for 45 mins. Everyone played well, everyone shot well, every possession was fascinating. A great game, a great watch. UCLA caps a long strange trip just missing a shot at the Championship. 

Gonzaga shows all the doubters that they can hang with anyone, that being pushed won't destroy them. 

(1) Baylor 86-70 (1) Gonzaga

Going in, I thought Baylor would be the toughest team Gonzaga has seen all season (perhaps in many seasons), a team that would not shrink from the undefeated #1 team, everyone's pick to win it all, and would score enough to hang no matter how well Gonzaga executed. I wouldn't have been shocked by Baylor stealing it late, but I figured Gonzaga would control throughout, even if the game felt tighter than anything they've had in a while. I still felt Gonzaga would handle Baylor and (most likely) outscore them. Gonzaga really is good; Baylor has a lot of good athletes; but I figured Gonzaga's ball movement would create more quick shots and Gonzaga would win on volume and free throws. 

Yeah, it took about two minutes to chuck the pre-game forecast out. Baylor came to play. That on-ball defense shook Gonzaga and the way Baylor was drilling 3's and getting offensive rebounds, it felt like Gonzaga was outmanned and in for a struggle. With about 8 mins to go in the 1st half, Baylor was up 38-19. 

From there, Gonzaga had a decent run before halftime, whittled the lead down to 10 and showed the path for a way back into the game: patient offense, quit turning the ball over, lure Baylor into fouls, hit your FT's, get every rebound, pray Baylor stops nailing these 3's. Baylor shot too well, played too hard in the 1st half, in the 2nd half they'd wither, fall into foul trouble and Gonzaga would make up the deficit to steal the W.

And for Baylor the game plan was also clear: keep hitting 3's (and get ready for the trophy presentation). 

Gonzaga had a chance to salvage the season, go out strong and smart and steal back the Championship they thought they'd already earned. But they couldn't keep their roll going after halftime: Gonzaga missed FT's, Baylor kept hitting 3's, that was ball game. 

Baylor came to play, then lapsed a little before halftime, then clamped down in the 2nd half.  Nice W for Baylor, really a smooth game from them from the jump, they were all great, everyone was hitting shots, everyone made plays on defense, they avoided foul trouble in the 2nd half, which just heightened the advantage they already possessed in bench depth. So outside of a lull before halftime, Baylor straight dominated this game in every way. All hail, they were really good all year long and flat took this tournament for themselves, a fun team to watch, and by the Final they were really humming.(*)  Good work.

(*) Reminded me of the 2019 NCAA football championship when Clemson dusted off Alabama. 

Bama had been #1 all year long, everyone assumed they would crush every other team, except possibly Clemson. You knew Clemson had talent but their schedule is just not as interesting as Alabama's, so you couldn't tell how good they actually were. They were the only team that even had a shot at hanging with the Tide, so...could they? Answer was 'yes', Clemson straight f'n flayed Alabama, while we all just gaped and went 'oh shit...'. Not necessarily a shock that Clemson won the game, but the ease with which they controlled every second of the game (while slicing and dicing the consensus favorite) was jarring and impressive.

Everyone knew Baylor was good and they were ballin' in the tourney, but until you actually saw them out there with Gonzaga, it was real easy to think Gonzaga was the better team. Actually, they were both really good teams, but head to head Baylor's defense just kept Gonzaga from getting anything going and the way Baylor drilled 3's....looking back on it, the fact that Baylor only won by 16 seems kinda weird and just highlights Baylor's dominance: Gonzaga actually shot the ball pretty well and were still never in the game.

2021 NCAA Final Four (the before)

(2) Houston - (1) Baylor (-4) (o/u 132.5)

Just noticed that Houston has only played double digit seeds ((15) Cleveland St, (10) Rutgers, (11) Syracuse, (12) Oregon St), feasting off the upsets that got handed to them. I like Houston, I think they're a nice team, I think on any given night they can be a really great team and maybe they have that in them. But they haven't seen anyone nearly as good as Baylor in many weeks now and I gotta think that catches up to them. Baylor is a really good team and they have the weakness of some really good teams: they got overconfident and slow down before the game is won. I can see a scenario where Houston gets hot late and steals it. But I think Baylor makes FT's and wins going away. I'll say Baylor 71-60 (Baylor and the under)

(11) UCLA - (1) Gonzaga (-13.5) (o/u 135.5)

Frankly, UCLA should've lost to Alabama and Michigan, Abilene Christian was a gift, BYU is nice but not an overly impressive win and Michigan St was as bad as they've been in years, so UCLA's run has been pretty lucky so far. Gonzaga doesn't win with luck, they win by being better at every position and every phase of the game. So...yeah, I can see UCLA putting up points to keep it from being a blowout, but I'm expecting Gonzaga to be in control throughout. I'll say Gonzaga 78-66 (UCLA and the over)

2021 NCAA Elite Eight (Day Two)

 (6) Southern Cal 66-85 (1) Gonzaga

Southern Cal had the worst opening 5 mins imaginable and the game was pretty much over by the first TV timeout. All the talk was of Southern Cal's great big men but they didn't get going at all, nor did USC shoot well, defend well, etc. Felt like Gonzaga might get a scare here but the only real danger is they win too huge and TV ratings falter, otherwise they're in good shape. 

(11) UCLA 51-49 (1) Michigan

Michigan had many chances down the stretch and could not buy a basket in the final minute. Felt like Michigan was the better team throughout but too many unforced errors kept UCLA (re: Juzang) in the game. Juzang was great, not sure I got much else from UCLA. Their sludgy defensive style kept Michigan from developing much attack but outside of Juzang, UCLA has no attack at all. For years the NBA Spurs were the model of efficiency, night in night out their average was better than everyone else's average and they beat most everyone just by being better than everyone; their one weakness was an expectedly great performance--a statistical anomaly--by one individual star (Shaq, Dirk, Chris Paul, for example). Is Juzang enough to upset Gonzaga all by himself? (I don't see it happening; but I am shocked and amazed that Juzang isn't rocketing up the NBA draft mocks--are you nuts? This kid is a top 5 pick!)