Jokic is a fucking load and only OKC has the personnel to deal with him. It's a testament to Denver's roster how good he is. Murray and Gordon are good but that's about it. OKC is throwing two bigs out there with some help and that's derailing him. If not for Gordon hitting some late game shots, this series is a sweep. What's surprising is how bad OKC's offense is in the playoffs.
The OKC/Denver game today was huge. Based on what is going on with the other series, whoever wins this series is likely winning the whole thing. Had OKC lost, they're not coming back. They're not winning 3 straight. Now it's a 3 game series with 2 games in Oklahoma City. Advantage Okies.
East might be Indy/Knicks. West might be Minny vs OKC/Denver.
OKC/Denver wins all of those.
I haven't really watched Flagg but my question is his real height with metrics. He's listed at 6'9" so he's probably really 6'7". At that height, is he athletic enough to guard other elite wings? I don't know. Also, at that height, is at least a really good shooter? Again, don't know.
Flagg is not Wemby.
OKC deserves some credit for their defense. As much as the coaches and players have shit the bed on offense, the adjustments they've made on Jokic have been top tier. He dominated in Game 1 but in the three games since then, he's really having to work and he's just not getting his usual numbers. They're running a constant two big lineup and getting help from Caruso or whoever.
Jalen is a legitimately good all around player. Three level scorer and can guard 4 positions. He's just shit the best the last two years in the playoffs. If you're Utah, you'd have Lauri plus the Thunder package. Without that, you'd just have Lauri and Flagg.
I think you could Giannis cheaper than Flagg at this point as dumb as that sounds.
But Jalen W is an All Star and I could see Cason Wallace becoming an All Star. Throw in 2-3 of the really good picks and that's a lot.
If it were me, I'd trade Jalen, Cason Wallace and some tasty picks for the #1 pick and take Flagg. They could prolly make that same deal and get Giannis, I suppose but Flagg would be a good fit with them.
This offense is complete ass. Dort is 2-9 from 3. No one else has more than 4 attempts but Dort keeps being allowed to shoot.
Jalen Williams checking in at 1-10. Mostly wild assed shots.
Caruso has been the only one that plays bigger in big games.
OKC should be up +20 here. They're playing great defense, actually, and missing wide open shots. For some reason, Dort has taken 6 three's in the first half and is 1-6 (of course).