Anyone else thinking Memphis could kind of drop like a rock with Jackson out? They were not competitive at all last night. I think they will at best win one of their next three against Houston, Sac and Lakers.
I thought Memphis would drop like a rock even with Jackson, so for certain I think they will with him out. Their schedule is a beast, they traded away solid vets in their rotation, and they’ll probably start sitting Morant to preserve him for the future if they fall out of the running by the end of March. I thought they’d go 5-23 post-break.
If this happens where are you projecting the pick?
Between 9-11. They’d fall behind at least four of POR, NO, SA, SAC, and PHX in the West, probably all 5. Outside chance Washington catches up too.
Dream on, SL. They aren't dropping down that far!! Someone spiked your green Koolaid!
Perhaps, but 14 of their last 25 are against teams with winning records, which is significant when you consider that only 13 of 30 NBA teams have a winning record. Combined with injuries, that's probably not enough to get us to 9th, but it might get it to 11th or 12th.
14 of NOP's last 15 games are against teams with a losing record. They only have 6 more games against winning teams. Given how Zion is playing, I'd be shocked if NOP doesn't overtake them. Portland only has 9 such games.
Before the break, they finished 22-10. The schedule wasn’t all that hard, but they did have wins against the Heat, Nuggets, Clippers, Thunder, Spurs, Rockets, Mavericks, Blazers in that stretch. Based on that, and two of their games that I watched, they seemed to be a team that plays hard, plays the right way, and has a good mix of young talent and vets.
Losing JJJ to injury and the vets they traded is going to sting; I can’t say how much. 5-23 seems pretty pessimistic, especially because they have some games against tanking teams. It doesn’t seem like a team that is just going to go belly up.
Does seem likely that one of the teams that’s only 3 or 4 back could catch them, given the schedule disparity. Of course those other teams could have their own health issues
I feel bad for the Grizz, tho also good for us.