🏀 Are You 😴 On These Guys?

What stage of the NBA offseason are you all at? We’re watching Corey Maggette highlights on YouTube, so…same. He was a bucket, though. Anyway, come hang for a bit!

Today’s Lineup

WAKE UP! Which players are being slept on for next season?

Who’s Left? There are still lots of free agents who can seriously help a team 📈

History in NYC: The Liberty heated up early like no WNBA team ever has 😲

It’s Quiet…Too Quiet

If you look at a calendar, you’ll notice that we’re rapidly approaching August.

“That means all productive free agents have been signed already, right, EB?” You ask.

Us:

Sorry, we didn’t mean to yell. We’re just very passionate about free agents—which there is still a bevy of! And in the coming days or weeks, some sharp teams are going to sign those remaining guys to bargain deals, then those guys will inevitably contribute next season and make us question why no one scooped them up sooner. So, who are those guys?

Trendon Watford

Just 22 years old, Watford has shown offensive versatility, touch, and even a bit of creation in his two NBA seasons.

Sure is, Man In GIF. But Watford was (somewhat confusingly) waived by Portland this summer, meaning the 6’8 forward can bring that skill set to another team looking for frontcourt depth. Though finding a role defensively is still a work in progress for Watford, he brings more than enough to the table to warrant him finding a new home on a short-term deal.

Jaylen Nowell

Nowell’s efficiency numbers dropped a bit in 2022-23 (53% TS, down from 58% in 2021-22) but he can still give a team a solid, athletic, backup guard option. We’re very pro-deep guard rotation here at Enjoy, so we think someone should sign the former Washington Husky.

Derrick Jones Jr.

DJJ has become somewhat of a journeyman in his career—he’s likely to play for his fifth team this season, and is still just 26—but he provides real defensive versatility (and of course, still provides the more than occasional borderline inhuman dunk.) His 3PT% has also slowly ticked up a few percentage points each of the last three seasons…just saying! At the very least, he’s worth a flier for teams needing to fill out their benches.

Wake Up!

Or keep sleeping—we don’t actually want to interrupt your rest. But when you do wake up from your slumber, make sure you also wake up from sleeping on these players that our (extremely smart) EB community told us about.

Let’s get to it.

The public perception of Anfernee Simons feels a little skewed. Portland’s 24-year-old guard wasn’t a regular starter until last season, and he responded to that expanded role by averaging over 21 points per game. Simons almost certainly isn’t done improving, and will likely have even more offensive responsibility for a team that will likely be starting a full-on youth movement.

Speaking of guys who aren’t done improving, hello, Jalen Johnson! Atlanta trading John Collins to Utah could be looked at as a vote of confidence in Johnson, who averaged 14.9 minutes per game in 2022-23, a number we’re confident will rise significantly next season.

Not hard to see why Hawks fans are so high on the 21-year-old.

We agree! Sacramento’s signing of Sasha Vezenkov this summer didn’t get a ton of national attention because many NBA fans may not be familiar with the 2023 Euroleague MVP’s game. But it’s a pretty good game. Seeing how the Kings distribute their power forward minutes between Keegan Murray and Vezenkov will be an intriguing story.

Frozen Moments

• When things go right, they all go right. Just ask the NY Liberty 🔥

• A 4x NBA All-Star is headed to the Euroleague. Good luck, king 🫡

• Michael Jordan has officially made a lot of money.

What We’re Enjoying

Home by HAIM: New Haim alert! While currently on tour with Taylor Swift, the group of sisters dropped their first new song in over a year, Home, for the Barbie soundtrack. The trio delivered as usual with an emotional pop anthem.

Signing Off

We don’t like saying it, but unfortunately, we must.

Goodbye.

Try to go easy on yourself this week! We always tend to set expectations for ourselves that no human being can live up to. Talk soon.

-Quinn Everts

Trivia Answer: 53 in a game was done by Liz Cambage in 2018!

Before you go…