The NBA’s trade deadline has come and gone, and with the league back from the All-Star break, we’re right on the verge of the stretch run for the postseason. As teams are gearing up for the final leg of the regular season, we caught up with the dudes from The Starters — J.E. Skeets, Leigh Ellis, Trey Kerby, and Tas Melas — and asked them eight questions about the race for the championship trophy.
1. Did Cleveland do enough at the trade deadline to win the Eastern Conference this postseason, and can they win a title with this group?
Adding George Hill, Jordan Clarkson, and Larry Nance Jr. was a big step forward, according to The Starters, but getting the chance to hit reset and rejuvenate their existing core, namely the guy who wears the number 23 Cavs jersey, was huge.
“I think they did enough, not necessarily because of the players who joined the team, but they reinvigorated LeBron James,” Leigh Ellis says. “I think for probably January and even a little bit of December, we saw LeBron kind of tune out. I think what’s important now he feels he’s got some players around him who he can use to contend and run with the Warriors.”
2. Were Boston and Toronto right to stand pat at the deadline and ride things out with their current groups?
Both the Celtics and the Raptors were reportedly active at the deadline, with the former dangling Marcus Smart and the latter trying to get in on the DeAndre Jordan sweepstakes, along with some other pieces. Ultimately, both teams stayed where they were at, save for the Celtics adding Greg Monroe in the buyout market.
Starting with the top team in the conference right now, J.E. Skeets says he was content with Toronto not doing much.
“I don’t really think there was a move to be made outside of maybe just trying to get a little bit more outside shooting, a little more consistent outside shooting,” Skeets says. “There were rumors of them trying to get like a Marco Belinelli in there. They obviously didn’t. He goes to the Sixers. That wasn’t a shock to me. I think they’re totally fine staying pat with all these young guys and their core. Lowry and DeRozan and Ibaka and Valanciunas in the starting spots there.”
Tas Melas didn’t have as rosy of an outlook, citing Toronto’s older roster as a reason for them to try something.
“The Raptors especially have a shorter window than the Celtics, because they’re a heck of a lot older,” says Melas. “Their prime, their premier guys are in their peak right now.”
Trey Kerby thinks both teams might have dropped the ball. One thing he noted was that the Celtics really could have used some firepower off of their bench.
“I think that the Cavs are probably not quite as far ahead as the Celtics and Raptors as they have been in years past, and that, to me, could’ve been an opportunity that both teams missed out on,” muses Kerby. “People see [Kyrie Irving] on their bench, going into the playoffs. It’s just an area where they could’ve bolstered their lineup a little bit, and they chose not to.”
3. Outside of the top three, which team in the Eastern Conference is the biggest threat to make a Finals run?
The consensus among the group is that there are three teams at the top of the East that have a realistic chance of winning the conference, and then there’s everyone else. But if anyone from that group of “the other five teams in the playoffs” can make some type of a push, two seemed most likely: Washington and Milwaukee.
While he understands there might be some tension in the locker room right now, Ellis thinks the Wizards are the best of the rest. Despite the fact that they’re an inconsistent bunch — “We’ve seen them have some incredible performances Christmas Day, Boston, for example, was one of their best wins, but then they could just as easily lose to a team like the Phoenix Suns,” Ellis believes they still have firepower. Do they have enough? Well, probably not.
“The Wizards on paper look like they can be a good team and can cause trouble, but I really think they are a step below the Celtics, Raptors, and Cavs,” Ellis says.
On the other hand, there are the Bucks, which as Skeets says have some serious talent.
“The Bucks have the ingredients, especially how they’ve played since firing Jason Kidd — 8-2 in their last 10 [games],” says Skeets. “You’ve got your superstars there in Giannis, you’ve got Jabari. That maybe would be a team you wouldn’t want to play.”
Still, The Starters made it clear that it would be a shock if anyone other than Boston, Cleveland, or Toronto won the conference, something Kerby made clear.
“That top three, however you wanna order them, Celtics, Raptors, and Cavs, is far and away better than anybody else in the conference.”
4. How vulnerable is this Warriors team?
Melas summed up everyone’s thoughts best on this subject: “If they want to beat themselves, they can. But you know, it’s a lot of guys who have to play poorly at the same time for them to lose, because they’re just … the top of their team, which matters so much in the NBA, their star power is better than any other team’s star power.”
Despite the fact that the Warriors haven’t looked like the horrifying death machine we’ve become accustomed to seeing in the past, and despite the fact that Houston is currently sitting atop the West, there’s a sense among all four of The Starters that this isn’t a massive concern yet.
So what’s wrong with Golden State this season? Ellis points to a sense of complacency that he doesn’t think will be around in a few months.
“They’re probably looking a little complacent at times now, but when the playoffs are here and they’re going to have home-court advantage most likely for every series that they play in, they know that they don’t have to go on the road to win a series, which is a very comforting thing [for them],” Ellis says, adding that the Warriors are “deep,” “well-coached,” “[and] they have no significant injuries.”
5. Which team has the best chance to knock Golden State off of its perch?
Three of The Starters pointed to Houston here, but Skeets decided to head a few hours north to Oklahoma City for his answer.
“You can get under the skin of the Warriors,” Skeets says. “You can get them rattled a little bit. I don’t think a team does that more than a team that has Russell Westbrook, who plays 100 miles an hour and has a lot to say, and takes everything so personally. I think Stephen Adams is a piece that can give some of those guys on the Warriors some problems. Again, [he] gets under the skin, plays a bit dirtier than some other guys. Then obviously, they have some talent there in Paul George.”
Skeets also pointed to the way the Thunder play and how they want to slow games down and play a different kind of ball from the uptempo style we see from the Warriors. Conversely, he believes the Rockets would try to beat Golden State at its own game.
While Ellis, Kerby, and Melas would all pick the Rockets as the team that has the best chance to beat Golden State, that doesn’t actually mean they’re picking Houston to beat the Warriors four times in seven games.
“I do really look at the Rockets’ roster and think ‘man, they can match up pretty well against the Warriors,'” Melas says. “But at this point, it’s impossible to really look at the Warriors roster and say those two former MVPs in their prime are going to fall to this Rockets team.”
6. Does the entire Western Conference race change if Kawhi Leonard comes back and looks like an MVP?
Ellis, Kerby, and Melas all think Leonard returning from his mysterious quad injury at an MVP level for the Spurs (who are currently 10 games behind the top seed in the West) could change everything. But in Kerby’s eyes, this is dependent on Leonard coming back and being able to build up some chemistry with LaMarcus Aldridge.
“If they’re able to figure out the chemistry between those two guys, I think they can be a realistic challenger to the Warriors and to the Rockets,” says Kerby. “You know that Popovich is gonna put together a great game plan, you know they’re gonna be ready for every game. They’re gonna play defense, it’s just a matter of figuring out the chemistry and the interactions between their two best players.”
But still, with only 22 more games left in the regular season for San Antonio, there is skepticism that Leonard will be able to come back at all. Even if he did come back, Ellis thinks Golden State would be “heavy favorites,” while Melas is generally pretty pessimistic that Leonard can make a big enough impact in the time remaining should he return.
“So if, it’s a huge if, Kawhi Leonard is that MVP guy, yeah that entire roster, that entire team and mindset and mojo can re-spark into that … what it was last year,” Melas says. “But we’re getting further and further along the line here, [meaning it’s] less likely that they will transform back into that because you need some time.”
7. Which team outside of the top-3 in the West is the biggest threat to make a Finals run?
Skeets may be the only guy to think the Thunder are the Warriors’ biggest competitors in the West, but everyone agrees they’re the best team outside of the conference’s top tier. The one-two punch of Westbrook and George can keep them in (and win them) games, while stylistically, they play in such a way that they can give Golden State headaches.
“If you see you have got an ability to slow the Warriors down, then that gives you a chance to beat them, because you don’t want this game to turn into one of those games where it’s, like, 140-130, because the Warriors will most likely win every time,” Ellis says. “You need to find a way to upset their rhythm and get players missing shots and get Steph and Klay and Kevin Durant and all these guys. If they can be off their game collectively for a game or a series, then it gives you a chance.”
The tenacity of Westbrook was a common theme across everyone’s answers, as is the fact that, well, the Warriors would still be the favorites in a series against them. Melas decided to show some love to one other team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, which he says possess an “incredible offense” that shares the ball “a ton,” but which has a major Achilles heel on defense.
8. What teams win each conference, and who wins the title?
“I hate it, it’s impossible for me not to pick the Warriors and the Cavs with the Warriors winning yet again,” Kerby says. “It just seems like until someone beats either one of those teams, you can’t pick against the whole thing.”
As for how that series goes, Melas has a theory, and if you’re a Cavaliers fan, it won’t make you especially happy. Melas believes this current Warriors squad is “a little angry” about last year’s Finals going five games, and would be dead set on remedying that.
“I’d expect a rout this year,” Melas says. “I expect a four-game sweep if we were to pick it right now.”
BONUS: Where is LeBron James playing next season?
This is a little farther down the line, but it’s still the single biggest question in the NBA once the clock hits zero on the final game of the season. James has the ability to opt out of the final year of his contract, and if he does, the entire basketball world will wait for him to make a decision on where he plays next.
Two members of The Starters, Kerby and Melas, thinks he stays in Cleveland on a short deal that gives him the flexibility to go elsewhere when he’s ready to leave, the current path he’s on in northeast Ohio. Kerby did mention, however, that he thinks James could end up a Laker in 2019, and that nobody would be surprised if he hopped on the phone with Paul George this summer about heading to the City of Angels.
Ellis doesn’t think he’s going to wait until 2019, and that once the dust settles on free agency, James will be on the Lakers after doing “everything for the city of Cleveland.”
“I think he might look to go to L.A. and join up with Magic Johnson there,” Ellis says. “And look, the Lakers have got a good young team. I’m not sure they’re ready to challenge the Warriors yet, but as the Warriors players move into their 30s, these younger Lakers players like Brandon Ingram and Julius Randle, if he’s still there, and Lonzo Ball, as these guys grow, then perhaps they have a chance in the Western Conference in a couple of years time.”
As for Skeets, he’s not 100 percent sure. He does, however, think he’s going to head somewhere else, and struggles to pick a place because he doesn’t think James knows exactly where he’s going himself.
“I think he will just take a look at the landscape of the NBA, look at the teams where he could plug in there as he gets into the twilight of his NBA career … where it would make most sense for him to just challenge for titles, because that’s at this point, all he’s going to really care about,” Skeets says.
Skeets also decided to have some fun, making a bold prediction with a laugh.
“He’ll do what M.J. did, instead of playing baseball, he’ll go play football or something,” Skeets jokes. “He’ll be in the CFL. There you go. He’s going to go to the Argonauts. Not the Raptors. He’s going to go play for the Argonauts in Toronto. My prediction.”
Time will tell if things will unfold the way Ellis, Kerby, Melas, and Skeets predict. Until then, make sure you check out The Starters weeknights on NBA TV all season long and throughout the 2018 postseason and Summer League.
