Jan 277 min read

Impact Moves

Teams across the hardwood are beginning to make many impact moves as we near the end of January. From the basement to the highest echelon, we are seeing trades, coaching changes, and statements add fuel to the NBA fire with less than a month to go until All-Star weekend. Pascal Siakam is shipped to an East riser, Joel Embiid is droppin' statements, and a stunner in Milwaukee. Scoooop time.

Pacers made a huge power move that caused quite a splash by acquiring All-Star forward Pascal Siakam from Toronto in a three-team trade. The impending free-agent is brought in to aid the rise of the 'chise to be a threat in the East as he pairs up with star guard Tyrese Haliburton and Myles Turner for the 6th-ranked Pacers that have aspirations for contedership. Here are the full trade deets:

There is obvious risk with this trade. Siakam being up for free agency makes the risk real high considering all that the Pacers gave up for him. Siakam could walk and go somewhere else in free agency, forcing the Pacers to waste draft capital and look idiotic... unless they won the title of course-- like Toronto with Kawhi Leonard. Tyrese Haliburton and the Pacers' obvious desire for Pascal's services (trading capital) could be quite the sell, however. Especially with their aggressive plans to pursue him in free-agency already in place. Siakam wanted a higher role for a contender; now he has it. Siakam can be the top producer in points while doing wonders for an already potent offense.

Siakam gives the Pacers and Rick Carlisle so much more to work with- as Damian Lillard has for the Bucks' offense. The spacing is going to be superior; elevating Haliburton's vision and passing expertise to an even higher degree. Siakam's versatility will be huge for the offense and Myles Turner. He can also guard many positions and brings defense that Indiana desperately needs. Pacers became dangerous with this move, despite the slow adjustment period.

Pacers dropped the first three games with Siakam, but just beat the 76ers last night behind Siakam's 26-point triple-double (26-13-10). Keep in mind, Tyrese Haliburton has missed the last three games and played in only Siakam's Pacers debut. Last night proved Siakam may now be adjusted, now they wait for Haliburton to get his hamstring healthy and it should be skies the limit to turnaround their season. They are only five games about .500 and have lost five of their last seven games. Now they have Siakam. The seven game slump followed a stretch of winnin' 9 of 10 with a six-game winning streak. I think the Pacers will be just fine... once Tyrese Haliburton gets back to full health. They need to get more out of their bench and Bennedict Mathurin needs to step his game up. Mathurin has been a major drag and anchor to this roster and the potential of it. He needs to step up.

All in all this trade should be money for the Pacers. They will be better from it once everyone is healthy and adjusted. The lineup will be far better. Good timing as they have struggled of late. This time of the season they want to climb the ladder- not fall from it. I think there is a strong chance that Siakam resigns in the off-season. Pacers also have a better chance of making a real splash in the second half of the season, and in the playoffs. Great trade by Indiana. It was also a great trade for the Raptors... again. They are in rebuild mode and knew Siakam was leaving. They got a great return for him as they did for Anunoby. Well done.

Embiid and Anthony-Towns lites up the box scores

On the 18th anniversary of Kobe Bryant's 81-point game, we witnessed something that hadn't been seen in just under 45 years. For just the 4th time in NBA history, two players scored 60+ points on the same day. Joel Embiid scored 72 points against the Spurs and Karl Anthony-Towns scored 62 against the Hornets; the last time it was done was on April 9, 1978 when David Thompson and George Gervin had that legendary duel for the league scoring title. It was an epic scoring performance for both men, but each baller had a different vibe and result after.

Despite KAT's 62, the Timberwolves lost the game to the basement Hornets. A bad loss at that. A loss that didn't sit well with head coach Chris Finch and rightfully so. KAT may have been scoring at a high rate, but his defense was horrendous and so was the team's motives in trying to get him the ball to score. Very final-Kobe game esque. The team got outplayed 36-18 in the 4th quarter with KAT missing over 8 shots while having 4 of his 7 turnovers in the 4th. Chris Finch was furious after the loss and didn't care to celebrate Towns' box-score:

video via Huncho_Jman//X

Much different vibes out of Philly after Embiid's ridiculously good performance. Gatorade shower and all. That cat is playing on another stratosphere right now and his 70-burger proves that in full display. What a performance it was. Embiid's league leading points-per-game average has now risen to 36.0 on the campaign. Embiid is averaging 39.1 in his eight January games; after averaging 40.2(!) in his nine December games. His pace is fascinating.

The reigning MVP is on pace to shatter his numbers from last season, which would mark that reality for every season of his career. He just gets better and better. A regular season juggernaut lookin' to end the narrative and go to the promise land. Nick Nurse is gettin' the full potential out of Embiid. It's time Daryl Morey gets active as we near the trade deadline, to bolster the 76ers rotation to give Embiid as much aid and resources as he can. For Embiid, he needs to scale out his motor. He want's to keep some of this power for the playoffs. Don't use it all up now!

Bucks sent some shockwaves across the NBA universe on Tuesday, when they canned head coach Adrian Griffin despite him leading the team to a 30-13 record- which was tied for the second best overall record in the NBA. They have now replaced Griffin with none other than Doc Rivers himself. Pure madness. Quite a head scratcher if you ask me.

Milwaukee now is paying three head coaches with just one on file in Doc Rivers. Griffin and Mike Budenholzer will continue to receive checks per mail. Now, I can somewhat understand the move to quickly evaluate Griffin as a lackluster coach (not leader), and want to replace him before witnessing an embarrassing playoff exit. His schemes are poor and he lacks proper adjustments throughout games as a coach. Bucks know the window with Lillard-Giannis-Middleton has limited time to be open, they want to make sure that they capitalize on the investment and they know it will take a solid minded coach, but you replace him with Doc Rivers? Now the odds of an embarrassing playoff exit actually hold weight!

RIvers has proven time and time again that he can't win big games. He has proven to waste golden opportunities for several franchises. God forbid if he didn't win his lone title in Boston with the first real super-team of the 21st-century. Failed in Orlando. Failed in Boston if I am being honest. Failed in Los Angeles. Failed in Philly. I don't like the decision here. If he couldn't win with Paul-Griffin-Jordan or Embiid-Simmons-Harris; then I don't seem him winning with Giannis and Lillard. Does his playoff experience give the coaching staff and team a better chance than Griffin? Possibly, but a lot of Rivers' playoff experience is negative. I don't see him being a savior. Odd maneuver, and a risky one. Rivers tends to blow up things that are going good. I am interested to see how this time around ends in Milwaukee.

They just dropped the All-Star starters and you already know I don't agree with the full list. For the East, they have it 4/5 in my opinion. I don't think Damian Lillard should receive the nod over Jalen Brunson or Donovan Mitchell. The forwards are not just deserving, but the only options. No brainers with some separation. Tyrese Haliburton is a no-brainer as well to make up the back-court with Brunson. Here are my five for the Eastern Conference:

I'm giving the nod to Jalen Brunson over Dame. We really need to start showing Brunson the respect he is owed. He is having a great season, and a better season than Damian Lillard in most aspects. Win shares: Brunson 8th; Lillard 18th. Offensive Plus/Minus: Brunson 13th; Lillard 22nd. Points Per: Brunson 12th; Lillard 16th. Brunson has been massive for the Knicks. More negative impact occurs when you take away Brunson from the Knicks rather than taking away Lillard from the Bucks. The comparison isn't one-sided. Puttin' Lillard as a starter isn't too non-deserving or outlandish. I just think Brunson should have received the nod over him. I am interested to see the Eastern Conference's reserves, that's forsho.

The other four are obviously no-brainers, except, perhaps Tatum. Embiid is the MVP front-runner, Giannis is continuing his tear, and Haliburton is one of the best assassins on the offensive in the entire league right now. All five guys are set up to be major producers come playoff time. They should make an exciting All-Star game for the East as well.

As cool as it is for LeBron to claim a 20th All-Star selection- he should not be an All-Star starter. James is the only player I swapped out for the West as I feel the Kings' Domantas Sabonis is far more deserving. Baby Sabonis is back to being massively valuable for the Kings on both sides of the court and in damn near every facet of the game. Sabonis has a higher assists per game average (7th in NBA) than Lebron as his 8.0 is the best average among all forwards/centers across the league. Sabonis also leads the entire league in rebounds per game (12.7), has the 8th best field-goal percentage in the NBA, and has the 11th best Player Efficiency Ranking (22.9). We can't continue to look past his impact in Sacramento. No one ever wants to shed the light. Luckily, I have the correct understanding in how to name All-Stars. I will shed the light. Can't deny Sabonis. He's ballin'.

The rest of the starters are spot on. Luka and SGA are playin' the best ball among guards on the planet, Jokić refuses to slow down nor be tamed, and Easy Money Snipin' Durant is in full destruction mode on the offensive as he tries and keep the Suns from being a laughing stock in the Pacific. The West is a no-brainer once you replace LeBron. Those cats are dominating the hardwood. It would be a dream if these two squads of five voluntarily went fist for fist in the upcoming All-Star game. I am sure we will get some level of comp' in spurts.

Impact Moves

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