a few meandering thoughts
Congratulations to the Seahawks for winning the Super Bowl. A pretty dominant victory against an over-matched New England Patriots team. If it wasn’t for the incredible play of NE CB Christian Gonzalez, Seattle likely gets at least one more TD. I can’t help but wonder what would have happened if Bo Nix had not gotten injured. As badly as the Patriots played against Denver in the AFC Championship game; a healthy Bo Nix probably gives Denver the win. How would a Seattle vs Denver Super Bowl have gone down?
In the shootout against the Bills that went to OT, Nix threw for 279 yards and 3 TD’s to just one Int. The Patriots defense is much better than the one the Bills had this year. But again, Drake Maye played horribly against that Bronco defense. To the tune of less than 50% completion percentage and just 86 yards throwing.
In two short weeks the NFL scouting combine begins. I can not wait until I am able to watch the players run through drills. Trying to project whether or not a player will be someone to keep an eye on based on the drills is fun for me.
On to the NBA. There were a lot of interesting trades that happened. I don’t feel like any of them were championship level needle movers though. I liked Vucevic going to the Celtics. It is truly incredible that Boston, for the most part, tore down their roster to get out of the luxury tax. Only for them to currently be in second place in the Eastern Conference. Vuc is a guy that can get you 18 and 10 on average and helps to space the floor. They are set up well when Jayson Tatum comes back next year.
Cleveland grabbing James Harden was a huge deal. To me though, not a needle mover. Harden has a history of failing to step up in the playoffs when it mattered the most. Even if that wasn’t the case; I just feel like Detroit is the favorite to come out of the East. The bruising style of play that the Pistons have will wear on the James Harden’s and Donovon Mitchell’s.
And speaking of the Pistons, I guess there was one needle mover at the trade deadline this year. Kevin Huerter going to Detroit provides them with a good shooter that has experience and can make the big shot.
Looking towards next year, the Pacers grabbing Zubac will be massive for a team that was one game away from winning the NBA title last year. When Myles Turner left for Milwaukee, there was a huge void left down low for Indiana. Enter Zubac that is averaging about 14.5 points and 11 boards per game.
I don’t understand what the Washington Wizards are doing. They traded for Trae Young. I guess I get that deal. They only gave up CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. Both of those guys can help Atlanta navigate the play-in. Trae, in my opinion, is a negative asset. Great stat guy but doesn’t impact winning. But with Trae and the youth that Washington has acquired the last few years; players like Tre Johnson, Kyshawn George, and Alex Sarr. Along with a potential top five pick in the ‘26 draft, things were looking up in Washington. But then they traded for Anthony Davis. Now, they didn’t give up any important assets. It just doesn’t make any sense because it is an all-in move without having an all-in player. 56, 62, 36, 40, 54, 76, 51, 20. Those are games played by year since he had back-to-back 75 game seasons when he was still in New Orleans back in 2018. Even if he plays in the average amount of games that he has played in the last 8 seasons, you’re only going to get 50 games out of him. Maybe the plan is to recoup some of the value that AD used to have and trade him for more assets? But to make an all-in move in this situation is weird.