One Exciting Thing About Each Eastern Conference Team

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Enjoying the East: We give one thing we're excited to watch about every Eastern Conference squad this season.

Blackballed from the NBA?: JR Smith feels that he, IT, Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford, and Nick Young were blackballed from the NBA, but is he right?

Shoutout to everyone who came through in Chicago for Bulls Fest. Kenny and the Enjoy Basketball team loved meeting y'all! Look out for another event coming to another city soon...

Atlanta Hawks – Dejounte Murray and Trae Young mesh

The Hawks traded for a top three defensive guard to cover for a bottom three defensive guard. On top of that, we are excited to see if two of the top five assisters in the league last season can coexist on the same team and how that will manifest.

Brooklyn Nets – All Star Ben Simmons

NBA fans forget quickly and buy hard into narratives. People sleep on the fact that since his rookie season, Ben Simmons has made an all-star game every healthy season of his career. Unless fan biases interfere in the voting, a healthy Ben will probably make it again this year. Simmons will wreak havoc on the defensive end, a big weakness for the Nets, and his driving game should become more dangerous with the Nets’ unreal court spacing.

Boston Celtics – Malcolm Brogdon fits beautifully

A healthy Malcolm Brogdon fits like a glove in Boston. With enough shot creation, Brogdon can be his efficient self and execute his role to perfection. Once having a 50/40/90% season, Brogdon adds another level of shot making to this beautiful Celtics roster while also contributing sound ball handing chops.

Charlotte Hornets – Mark Williams is the answer at center (maybe)

Outside of LaMelo Ball, this roster is devoid of quality talent. After 2 years at Duke, Mark Williams enters the Hornets’ center rotation with little competition, and we would love to see him flourish as a dynamic lob threat and defensive stopper.

Cleveland Cavaliers - The Future has Arrived

Do we have to say it? Cleveland just assembled the Young Avengers. Let’s see them get to work. We’re especially pumped to see Evan Mobley’s next jump too. How high might the Cavs climb in the standings? We could see them snag a #3 seed. And if you want a preview:

Chicago Bulls - Ayo Dosunmu steps up (again)

With Lonzo Ball still unfortunately not healthy, Ayo Dosunmu will likely be the opening day starting point guard. It’s not often that a sophomore second round pick is bringing the rock up for a playoff team. Let’s see if Dosunmu is going to be just a good backup (nothing wrong with that!) or add substantially onto his All-Rookie Second Team season with greater offensive punch.

Detroit Pistons - All Star Cade?

Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren will obviously be intriguing, but we are ecstatic to see Cade Cunningham’s second season. In the final 21 games, Cade averaged 21 points, 6.4 assists, and 5.8 rebounds a night while constantly creating his own offense and leading Detroit down the stretches of some tight games. Watching him pick up right where he left off could mean an all-star appearance in just year two!

Indiana Pacers – Year Three Tyrese Haliburton Jump

Year three is notoriously a big “jump” year for young promising players and we cannot wait to see Year Three 'Rese. Tyrese Haliburton is a 41% three-point shooter and high level passer at just 21 years old and should have an expanded role on a below average Pacers roster. Particularly we would LOVE to see him be more aggressive in attacking gaps in the defense and converting at the rim or kicking it out to a compelling Bennedict Mathurin.

Miami Heat - Healthy Victor Oladipo

Hopefully we will get to see a full healthy season of Victor Oladipo for the first time since 2018! How hype would it be if he had a big resurgence? Regardless, we think everyone wants to see that man be healthy and help out a contender.

Milwaukee Bucks - Healthy Joe Ingles in a new spot!

On that note, Joe Ingles is finally healthy! Not only is his slow but effective ball handling a joy to watch, but this year Jinglin’ Joe could finally get a ring! Oh, and that guy Giannis is pretty fun to watch too.

New York Knicks – Young guys getting another year better

First off, three lefties being the three best players on the same team (RJ, Randle, and Brunson) is weirdly fun. But outside that, it's the young guys. The Knicks elected to stick with their young core instead of pursuing a trade, so we’re excited to see the likes of RJ Barrett, Obi Toppin, Mitchell Robinson, Quentin Grimes, and Immanuel Quickley get one year bigger, faster, and better. We can think of few bench players who have more highlights than IQ:

Orlando Magic – Some kid becomes The Kid

Paolo Banchero. And Franz Wagner. And Markelle Fultz. And... wow there are a lot of young dudes on this team who have unexplored ceilings. We’re excited to see which of Cole Anthony, Mo Bamba, Wendell Carter, Jon Isaac, and the rest of the squad spread their wings and become one of Orlando’s true franchise cornerstones.

Philadelphia 76ers – Healthy James Harden and MVP Embiid

We NEED to see something close to prime James Harden. If we get that, this Philly team is a true contender and that is super fun. Also, this could finally be the year of MVP Joel Embiid, so that’s hype too. Remember Harden's MVP year? Insanity:

Toronto Raptors – Scottie Barnes setting the league ablaze

The Rookie of the Year entering year two? Count us in. More touches, more defense, more attacking, more FUN. We can’t wait to watch Scottie Barnes set the league on fire again.

Washington Wizards - Johnny Davis has (somewhat) free reign

Johnny Davis has one of the prettiest skillsets in the 2022 Draft and we want to see it on full display this season. He should start on opening day, or slowly grab the starting point guard spot from Monte Morris. Either way, we’re here for it.

J.R. Smith Blackballed from the NBA?

In an interview with Complex, JR Smith said he feels that he was blackballed from the NBA along with the likes of Isaiah Thomas, Joe Johnson, Jamal Crawford, and Nick Young. Smith hasn't played in the NBA since 2020 and hasn't played more than 11 games in a season since the 2018 Cavaliers.

Candidly, while he may feel that he's better than most of the "4th through 15th" men on NBA rosters, Smith and the players he mentioned have similarities that make them undesirable in today's NBA: they are older, poor defenders who don't fit into modern offenses. Thomas, Johnson, and Crawford play a heavy isolation style of basketball that is only permitted to superstars and Young and Smith have lost a step in shot making and defense. Still, we here at Enjoy Basketball love what JR has been doing post-career and know he's still a great hooper, just maybe not what teams are looking for.

Blazing the Trail: Shawn Kemp, the aerial artist - Mat Issa (Basketball News)

Small-Market Teams Are Paying Big Prices to Go All In - Zach Kram (The Ringer)

The 6x NBA All-Star Free Agent That Nobody Is Talking About - Ben Stinar (Sports Illustrated)

Thanks for reading today's Enjoy Basketball! We're excited for so much talent in the East! Keep an eye out for Wednesday, because like Bron in 2018 we're heading to the West!

-Conor Geelan

Trivia Answer: To answer Friday's trivia question, the six NBA teams to never appear in the NBA Finals are the Charlotte Hornets, Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Clippers, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves and New Orleans Pelicans.

Trivia Question: Since 2000, the Spurs have a remarkable 68% regular season win percentage, highest in the league by a good margin. Which franchise has the second-best?