Tag / washington wizards

Atlanta Hawks, Dejounte Murray, Southeast Division, NBA, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

Will Dejounte Murray turn around the Atlanta Hawks | TAF246

This week on The Atlantic Files, we preview the Southeast Division where Dejounte Murray looks to help the Atlanta Hawks get back to deep playoff runs, Blake Griffin signs with the Boston Celtics, the NBA Preseason is underway, Oklahoma City and Houston traded a bunch of players, the Toronto Raptors are monitoring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s situation, and we take a look at the annual GM survey from the NBA!

A lot of depressing rosters have made their home in the Southeast division over recent years. The only team that really was a championship threat was the Miami Heat. This time around, there are still a few depressing rosters, but both the Heat and the Atlanta Hawks look like they could make some noise! Dejounte Murray found himself move from a tanking situation to a contender, so can he help Atlanta get back to the Conference Finals?

Blake Griffin is officially staying in the Atlantic Division! After playing with the Brooklyn Nets last season and then not getting another offer, he found his home in Boston. The cleanup crew just got even better for the Celtics. Griffin is bringing his charge drawing abilities on top of his high effort in all of his bench minutes. Yet another sneaky good addition from Brad Stevens and company.

The NBA Preseason is officially underway! We’ve seen the Phoenix Suns lose to an NBL team, the Philadelphia 76ers blowout the Nets without most of their starters, and so much more. We gave our top observations and takeaways from the games that have been played so far.

In trade news, the Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets swapped a bunch of bench players so that the Thunder could get under the tax line. A couple pieces of the trade have already been waived, so this really has no effect on the day-to-day talent of each team.

Rumors are now swirling that the Toronto Raptors and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander are starting to form a link. The Raptors are reportedly keeping tabs on the situation in Oklahoma City just in case Gilgeous-Alexander doesn’t want to wait for this tank job to finally end.

Finally, we take a look at the survey that’s done by all of the NBA’s General Managers. They answered a ton of questions about the current state of the league and even some predictions for how the season is going to turn out. We gave our thoughts to the best and worst answers.

Timecodes:
00:00:00 Intro & Dennis’s dungeon
00:07:09 2022-23 NBA Southeast Division Preview
00:39:03 Observations from the NBA Preseason
00:54:32 Blake Griffin signs with the Boston Celtics
00:56:08 Toronto Raptors are monitoring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
01:03:23 Oklahoma City Thunder and Houston Rockets trade
01:04:58 Reactions and thoughts on annual NBA GM Survey
01:28:12 Outro

SUBSCRIBE to Apple Podcasts or Spotify so you don’t miss a new episode!

Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn Nets, 2022 NBA Free Agency, Atlantic Files
by Alex Fischbein

Kyrie Irving is not dependable | The Atlantic Files Ep234

This week on the Atlantic Files podcast, Kyrie Irving caused a lot of drama and rumors surrounding the Brooklyn Nets, John Wall is heading to Los Angeles, Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook are both staying put, and an NBA Free Agency preview!

Before any of the NBA Free Agency officially kicked off, we already have some trades and news of opt-outs coming in. John Wall is one who is working on a buyout with the Houston Rockets and apparently has also decided to go to the Los Angeles Clippers. It’s been a very long time since we’ve even seen Wall play an NBA game, so teaming up with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard should be very interesting.

Bradley Beal opted out as well, but he’s expected to sign a five-year supermax with the Washington Wizards. Also, Russell Westbrook is staying put as he opted in to his option with the Los Angeles Lakers. Beal’s part is a little surprising due to all of the rumors about him being traded. The longer and bigger contract is probably a little more difficult to actually trade. Westbrook, on the other hand, is quite expected. Now the Lakers have to figure out if they want to just use him as a scapegoat again or actually trade him for some supporting pieces.

The big topic of this week’s episode is Kyrie Irving and the Brooklyn Nets. There were tons of conflicting rumors that said Kyrie is either looking for a sign-and-trade or he’s staying in Brooklyn. A rumor that came out of the mess was that the Nets thought Kyrie was not dependable and that apparently upset Kyrie. News flash, anyone can see the amount of games he’s played in Brooklyn and realize that he is the farthest thing from dependable!

Finally, we preview the rest of the 2022 NBA free agency and all of the potential free agents that could be moving teams this off-season. A lot of quality role players are on the market and the championship contending teams could be making tons of trades and signings!

Timecodes:
00:00:00 Intro
00:02:31 Kyrie Irving is the least dependable on the Brooklyn Nets
00:16:04 John Wall heading to the Los Angeles Clippers!
00:26:31 Bradley Beal and Russell Westbrook staying put
00:41:28 2022 NBA Free Agency Preview

Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
by Alex Fischbein

State of the Boston Celtics | The Atlantic Files Ep211

On this week’s episode of the Atlantic Files, Alec Walt of Down The Block Sports and the Alec Walt Show joins the show to talk about the state of the Boston Celtics and the 2022 NBA All-Star vote returns!

Alec Walt is a friend of the show as well as a Boston Celtics expert. He’s broken down every aspect of the team over the years he’s been covering sports and he’s an avid sports fan and analyst in all different avenues of sports. You’ll find the link to his show below!

The Boston Celtics have been a head-scratching sort of team this season. They have two of the brightest young stars in the league with the tandem of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, but that’s where it pretty much ends. Everyone else on the roster except for maybe Marcus Smart and Robert Williams III isn’t much to write home about. On top of that, they have a rookie head coach who has made some very questionable decisions so far.

Now, the age-old question comes about. Will the Boston Celtics make a trade and will it be one of their young stars on the move? Jaylen Brown has had a lot of buzz in the rumor mill about potentially being shipped away. Maybe that’s what this team needs to bring in a guy like Bradley Beal.

Say they make a deal, however, is Ime Udoka the one that leads this team to the promised land? Should he even last as head coach for more than this one season?

After all of our Boston Celtics conversations, we brought up the latest voting returns for the 2022 NBA All-Star game. Some of these fans have gone crazy with which players are currently listed as a starter and others who aren’t even close. This All-Star game is going to be one of the weirdest if all of these results hold up.

Check out the Alec Walt Show on Down The Block Sports: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfkP-VMF1Uhioz23EfjDPtA

Timecodes:
0:00 – Intro
1:48 – Boston Celtics breakdown, how’d they get here?
12:37 – Should the Celtics trade either Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown
23:13 – Myles Turner a potential trade target?
31:17 – Should the Celtics keep Ime Udoka for more than one year?
37:29 – 2022 NBA All-Star voting returns

Boston Celtics, Jayson Tatum
by Alex Fischbein

The Atlantic Files Ep201: Boston Celtics are crumbling

This week on the Atlantic Files, the Boston Celtics are crumbling as we speak, Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors are on a hot streak, and all of a sudden the Charlotte Hornets, Washington Wizards, and Chicago Bulls are at the top of the East.

First of all, the Boston Celtics have plenty of time to not crumble and get themselves back together. Marcus Smart called out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for hogging the ball, especially at the end of games. He said it’s something that they’ll definitely learn from and they’ll get back on track. This sounded more like something he’s been trying to tell them behind closed doors for a long time and since they weren’t listening he finally said something to the press.

Then there’s James Harden and the Brooklyn Nets. Harden hasn’t looked like his usual self until just recently. He finally started attacking the rim, hitting his usual step-back jumpers, and wreaking havoc in the lane. A lot has been said about him being out of shape due to rehabbing during the off-season on top of the fact he’s getting used to the new foul rules. Does anything need to change on the Nets front to make sure they succeed without Kyrie Irving?

Another Atlantic team is surprising a lot of people at the moment. The Toronto Raptors have hit a little stride early on in the season. Scottie Barnes, OG Anunoby, Fred VanVleet, and Gary Trent Jr. have all been improving and showing some great offensive flashes on top of a pretty fun defensive system to watch. This team is fun and they’re finally playing like it!

Finally, we have the Chicago Bulls at the top of the East along with two surprising teams. Both the Charlotte Hornets and Washington Wizards were not supposed to be this high in the standings at all. Which of these two teams are the most for real? LaMelo Ball might actually be a real MVP candidate which is a scary thought!

Timestamps:
0:00 – Intro
1:15 – James Harden doesn’t look right
8:20 – Scottie Barnes and the Toronto Raptors
19:00 – Chicago Bulls are top of the East
29:00 – The Boston Celtics are crumbling and Marcus Smart is calling people out
40:30 – Who is an actual playoff team, Charlotte Hornets or Washington Wizards?