Oklahoma City Thunder: Caring
You can see it on the player’s faces, specifically Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They RELISH winning. Especially in close games. Their confidence only rises in those moments, and they’ve come away with some signature wins because of it. Almost as if you should not let them taste too much victory, or they’ll try to run the league.
Which should be a mentality of their competitors…not their front office. This is year two of the Thunder just plain not caring about winning. It hurts to see. I’m sure they expected to come away with a franchise cornerstone like Cunningham or Mobley after last year’s tank-a-thon, but that’s the risk of the tank.
And Josh Giddey looks to be quite the piece. But man, I hope the front office cared about winning. Their fans’ hope, regardless of what happens in the draft after this year’s tank-tastrophy, should be to make roster moves to win.
Orlando Magic: Jalen Suggs
The Orlando Magic rebuild is going swimmingly. Franz Wagner is a revelation. Mo Bamba and Wendell Carter Jr. have taken strides as players for the first time in their careers. And Cole Anthony (Cole Anthony!) has had a MIP campaign.
But the supposed prize of the Magic’s draft, Jalen Suggs, has gone through (comparatively speaking) a slow start. By that I mean he is not blowing the league away on a nightly basis like many rookies are. And that’s okay! But it would be nice to see him have some MOMENTS this season. And that’s my hope for the Magic.