NBA All-Star Break Roundtable: Surprises, Predictions And Trades

One Hot Take You Were Totally Right About Before The Season Started…

Saenz: The Miami Heat would make the playoffs. Well, I suppose I’m not exactly right – yet. But I should get some credit for that 13-game win streak.

Morton: Russell Westbrook averaging a 30-point triple-double. I should’ve tweeted it!

Polazzon: Orlando’s offseason moves would hurt the franchise. I wrote a piece before the season started on whether or not Orlando’s big offseason additions would be worth it and I quote myself: “In the end, the Orlando Magic are hurting themselves with these moves. They already gave up two young players in Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis in order to get Ibaka’s expiring contract and now they have locked themselves into a long-term deal with Biyombo despite already having Vucevic.”

Orlando are currently the second worst team in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, Oladipo and Sabonis are playing rather well in Oklahoma City and Serge Ibaka has already been traded for a late first round pick and Terrence Ross, much less than the value of Oladipo and Sabonis.

McFee: I predicted the Nets would do better than the Knicks, and I’m sticking to my guns. While the Nets are the worst team in the league record-wise, the Knicks are in the worst state top to bottom as the Kangz have the title of most dysfunctional team stripped from them. New York may no longer be the Mecca of Basketball, but the Nets are embracing the fact they’re bad by shipping out Lopez (potentially) for Tyreke Evans, Langston Galloway, and Tim Frazier and a first round. That’s a great deal if you’re Brooklyn, and they will get better sooner than people think. The Knicks are headed to a full-blown implosion. You tell me who’s in worse shape.

Gonzalez: I said the Celtics would be the 2-Seed with ease and the Pacers would brutally underperform, but other than that I have had some real bad misses this season.