NBA Booming Ballers, on PredictionStrike | Cancun is Calling!

What’s up, everybody! My name is Jalon Dixon, your friendly neighborhood NBA super fan and new Prediction Strike expert here with the weekly scoop on the biggest news across the association and how these things could influence Prediction Strike’s NBA Stock Market.

Playoff Jimmy Strikes Again

Why is it that nearly every time the Miami Heat are considered underdogs, they shock the world? The name: Jimmy Butler. For any of us who doubted that Heat would even be competitive let alone win the series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Playoff Jimmy put on the ultimate masterclass to silence the haters once again. But rather than giving you all this fluff about Butler’s insane track record or recalling some of the insane moments from this series that just further validated him as a top postseason performer, just look at this list of unbelievable feats Butler accomplished through this series:

• The Heat completed the largest fourth-quarter comeback in a series-clinching game in NBA history
• The Heat became just the third team in the last 45 years to knock off the title favorite in Round 1, joining the '07 Warriors (vs. Mavs) and '94 Nuggets (vs. Sonics).
• Butler (56 points in Game 4) passed LeBron James for most playoff points in a game in Heat history (49 points in 2014)
• Butler scored 98 points in the past two games. In NBA history, only Michael Jordan, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West scored more points in consecutive playoff games.
• Miami is the sixth No. 8 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed since the playoffs went to a 16-team format (1984).

Not to mention he may have had one of the Top-5 most insane shots in Playoff history with that fall-away jumper to send Game 5 to overtime.

Playoff Jimmy is NOT a myth. And it seems like because of how the Miami Heat mosey along through the regular season, we forget just how good he is. If Butler isn’t at least in your Top-15 of best in the league right now, then I’m sorry but you may have a few overrated guys on the list that you need to give a second look.

Cancun Is Calling

The first round of the NBA Playoffs is coming to a close. Meaning the first slate of teams that were eliminated will be joining their fellow NBA vacationers in Cancun as they get an early head start to the offseason. After being demolished in Game 6 last night by the Los Angeles Lakers, the Memphis Grizzlies join the Cleveland Cavaliers, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, LA Clippers and Minnesota Timberwolves on a one way flight to the nearest sun tan. But even with pleasure comes a little pain. Each of these teams will be facing major questions and they are only magnified by the fact that aside from the Hawks and Grizzlies, most of these series ended in 4 or 5. Here are some of my questions:

Cavs: What wing player can they sign to help finalize their starting lineup. They have an undersized backcourt with an oversized front court and a revolving door at small forward. This backcourt was exposed to a ton of on-ball pressure against the Knicks and Cleveland was outmatched by New York’s physicality. A strong suited at the three-spot would’ve really even the score.

Hawks: Will Trae Young request a trade? Hate to bring up old news, but this was a big question after a rough start to this season.

 

Bucks: Is this team really as good as we think or we’re their flaws overshadowed by their defensive prowess and the presence of Giannis Antetokounmpo? What they do this off-season will either validate their belief that they are better than this series showed or that they are in panic after seeing some of their biggest weaknesses exposed. 

Clippers: What’s left to do besides trading one of the top 2 guys? Thanks to Steve Balmer, the Clippers have a $400 million team with some of the best depth in the league. Yet they underperform and their stars are never healthy. They have only one more season with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George under contract. They can either go into another offseason with blind faith that “if our guys were healthy, we’d win the whole thing” or they can make the tough decision. 

Timberwolves: How safe is Karl-Anthony Towns? With no draft picks and no real way to offload Rudy Gobert anytime soon, the only way this team can get any better is either through internal development or taking a hard look at KAT, who has yet another postseason blunder of a series. 

Grizzlies: Is Memphis finally going to make the depth consolidation trade that lands them another All-Star caliber player to put them over the top? Or do they continue to live and die depending on depth?

Warriors-Kings Game 7

The California squads square off on Sunday for the first Game 7 of the 2023 NBA Playoffs. Both teams have stolen a game on the road and now it all comes back to the Golden 1 Center. Will the Warriors continue their defense as the reigning champions or will the Kings reach the second round for the first time since 2004? Let us know who you have winning! 

Well, that is all the news I have for this week. Thanks, everyone, for joining us! I am super excited. to bring you more NBA commentary every week. Have any ideas as to what else you would like to see from this newsletter? Let me know! Till next time, peace!

Happy trading, Jalon

  

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