Author: Michael Grace

Dejounte Murray is maybe the only positive thing about the 2021 Spurs, and yikes. The dynasty is long in the rear view, the Spurs are top pick contenders again. Murray, now in his fourth season, is a solid on-ball defender who can hassle and harass with the best of them. He’s a good pull-up shooter who can break up the opposing offense then run it back for a quick two. Unfortunately, DeMar DeRozan is on the wrong side of 30, and the supporting cast is lackluster at best. Murray can be bottled up and thrown out without much worry toward who else can cause damage. Still, if you happen to be watching a Spurs game, Dejounte Murray is explosive and exciting. Maybe he’ll have a top pick to play off of next season.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is on the Thunder at this exact moment. Given what Sam Presti has done over the last few months, I have no idea who will and who won’t be on the team come opening night, much less the end of the season. Still, SGA had a breakout season last year while under the tutelage of Chris Paul. Going into this season, he’s pretty much going to have to be the guy in OKC. Whether or not he can do that depends on what percentage of his teammates have the ability to draw defenders away. Hamidou Diallo can jump out the gym, and that’s cool, but is it enough to give SGA a little breathing room on offense? His first season in OKC saw a jump in production in every category, as he also played just under 35 minutes per night. Woof. Whatever the Thunder are doing is for the extreme long term, and SGA burnout might be an effect of the Presti Plan. Still, on a nightly basis, the kid can be spectacular.

Tyler Herro was formally introduced to the world in the bubble. It’s tough finding a hidden guy on a team that bashed and thrashed its way to the Finals, but Herro is an interesting guy this season. In his rookie campaign, he shot just under 40% from three on 298 attempts. That in itself is impressive, but its when he made his threes that was so shocking. Herro was often trusted in high-leverage situations near the end of games, something not often gifted to rookies. He seemed to shrug off misses like they’re known commodities and not let his confidence falter into the next shot opportunity. Yes, how Jimmy Butler goes, so go the Heat, and Bam Adebayo is being groomed into a star. Tyler Herro has baby Ray Allen potential, and we all know how valuable guys like that can be. I’m very interested to see what the Heat do when it’s crunch time and they need three points. There are other options, but Tyler Herro could become an elite shooter if given the proper number of looks.

Mohammed Bamba was really growing into his game last year. Then the season was abruptly suspended, stunting his development for the time being. He will continue to come off the bench, given that the Magic have a locked-in starting center in Nikola Vucevic. In yet another strange season, it’s probable that Bamba will get minutes to test his productive limits just based on Vucevic needing time to breathe. If Orlando is going to compete for another chance to lose to Milwaukee in the first round, bench guys like Mo will have to step up. The floor is rising in the East, and teams like Orlando can get swallowed up if they get stagnant. Bamba’s Per-36 numbers project out to a pretty valuable big man, and if by increasing his usage means even a fraction of that potential is tapped, the Magic could benefit greatly. He’s a fun player who could probably use some meat on his bones to better contend with other centers, but he has a wingspan that could rival a pterodactyl.