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2 weeks ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Jacob Douglas
Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images Marilyn Dubinski: The fan of team-ball in me wants to say Haliburton, but he probably won’t ever quite reach MVP status, while SGA is proven MVP at this point with likely more to come. It also wouldn’t be accurate to say SGA is not team-oriented since he averaged a career-high 6.4 assists this season.
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3 weeks ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Jacob Douglas
Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Marilyn Dubinski: The Thunder came out of the West because they’re the most well-rounded, versatile team. They finished the season 4th in offensive rating and 1st on defense for the best net rating (so it goes without saying that they can both score and defend). They addressed their weaknesses from last season by adding a perimeter stopper in Alex Caruso and a defensive-minded big man in Isaiah Hartenstein to take some pressure off Chet Holmgren.
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3 weeks ago | 
sports.yahoo.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Jacob Douglas
Marilyn Dubinski: The Thunder came out of the West because they’re the most well-rounded, versatile team. They finished the season 4th in offensive rating and 1st on defense for the best net rating (so it goes without saying that they can both score and defend). They addressed their weaknesses from last season by adding a perimeter stopper in Alex Caruso and a defensive-minded big man in Isaiah Hartenstein to take some pressure off Chet Holmgren. Finally, they have the MVP to lead the way.
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1 month ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Bill Huan
Brad Penner-Imagn Images Marilyn Dubinski: I think a little of both. There is little doubt that the Thunder have been the best team in the West all season, but they are also still very young, and there were times that Denver looked like a team that had “been there” against them. At the same time, while injuries across the board certainly hurt the Nuggets, they have been inconsistent all season.
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1 month ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Jacob Douglas
David Banks-Imagn Images Marilyn Dubinski: It will likely depend on where the Spurs feel they need the most help not just now, but in future seasons as well. Dylan Harper seems to be the consensus no. 2 after Flagg, and I’d be all over that pick if they hadn’t traded for Fox, but will he be redundant with Fox and Castle? The same could be said of VJ Edgecombe. Then again, they also need a backup PG. They also desperately need size, but there is a lack of big men projected to go that high.
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1 month ago | 
sports.yahoo.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Jacob Douglas
Marilyn Dubinski: It will likely depend on where the Spurs feel they need the most help not just now, but in future seasons as well. Dylan Harper seems to be the consensus no. 2 after Flagg, and I’d be all over that pick if they hadn’t traded for Fox, but will he be redundant with Fox and Castle? The same could be said of VJ Edgecombe. Then again, they also need a backup PG. They also desperately need size, but there is a lack of big men projected to go that high.
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1 month ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Devon Birdsong
David Butler II-Imagn Images Marilyn Dubinski: They’re a long way from the true title contenders like the Thunder, Cavs and Celtics (at least before the second round started in disastrous form for the latter two). They just don’t have the offensive firepower or defensive efficiency to contend with those teams yet. That being said, they are not that far from the next tier of upper-seeded playoff teams.
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2 months ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |J.R. Wilco
Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images Marilyn Dubinski: I’m leaning towards Taylor Jenkins. That might sound weird since Mike Malone helped guide the Nuggets to a championship, but it sounds like Jenkins has a better resume in terms of developing young talent, plus he has Spurs ties. (Not to mention, he’s also young at just 40 years old.) I also find it ironic that an alleged reason for Jenkins’ firing was Ja Morant didn’t like his offensive scheme.
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2 months ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Bill Huan
Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Marilyn Dubinski: I’ll give them a 7, with context. If you were told coming into the season that Victor Webmanyama would only appear in 46 games, and they would all come in the first “half” of the season, you probably wouldn’t have guessed they’d still come within a game of their preseason Vegas predictions with 34 wins.
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2 months ago | 
poundingtherock.com | Jeje Gomez |Marilyn Dubinski |Mark Barrington |Bill Huan
Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images Marilyn Dubinski: After looking so hopelessly lost last season, I’m surprised the Pistons not only leapt out of the cellar, but all the way up to securing a playoff spot— not play-in, PLAYOFF. It’s the leap we hoped the Spurs could make with similar off-season moves to add veterans, but injuries got in the way. Kudos to the job J.B. Bickerstaff has done. My surprise bad team would be the Suns.
