Reacting To Your Hottest NBA Takes To Start The Season

We're back in action with the new NBA season officially being underway, and this early in the season, technically anything can still happen. Of course, we all generally understand some groups have much higher or lower ceilings than others, but at the same time, we also always see a few groups shock everybody every season in both good and bad ways. This phenomenon is why everybody loves throwing around hot takes that may seem outrageous because there is still a small chance they could actually happen, and being the genius that called it is half the fun of being a fan. This brings us to today's video, where we're going to be diving into some of the hottest takes for the new NBA season that I've found across social media, and we'll be discussing whether or not there's actually something to them along with why or why not. Before we start though, it would be greatly appreciated if you could all utilize YouTube's hype feature and hype this video up, as it actually does help out quite a bit. Now with that being said, let's begin. The first hot take we'll be discussing today says that AJ DeBonte will run away with the Rookie of the Year award this season, the Wizards will sneak into the playoffs as the 8th seed, and they'll give the 1 seed a good run for their money in the first round, proving that they belonged there. Quick side note before we discuss this, the official Washington Wizards YouTube channel has actually been putting out some incredible behind-the-scenes content showcasing the work that their guys do put in behind the scenes on and off the court and for basketball sickos like me and likely many of you it was very cool to watch so I suggest you all go check that out. Now getting back on topic the Wizards are a group that I can confidently label as one of the big wild cards in the Eastern Conference and they can determine a lot about the makeup of the standings as a whole. The Eastern Conference as a unit has gotten a lot stronger this season than it's been in prior years so it's easy to overlook the Wizards who been sitting in the basement for a while, but they, too, will be a completely different group, and there are definitely reasons to buy into this hot take in question. For starters, AJ DeBonte could prove to be the kind of franchise-changing star prospect that sets a new era in motion, and the best part is they brought him in at a time where they won't necessarily need him to carry the load of a bad roster, which is the situation that most number one picks come into. AJ DeBonte will definitely be heavily featured regardless, because he is a 6'9 shot creating beast on the ball with the body control and handle of a guard and the shot making skills he has at his size allow him to get his shot off from anywhere inside the arc with ease. His life will be made easier by the additions of Trey Young and Anthony Davis too though. It's so interesting because both Young and Davis are players coming off of relatively bad injury riddled seasons compared to the rest of their careers but when they are healthy and good to go literally provide exactly what the Wizards have been missing. Davis has been one of the NBA's best defensive big men for years and will help rising rim protector on the Wizards Alex Sarr anchor this group's defense while also capably giving this group another reliable secondary scoring option. Trae Young's tenure in Atlanta saw him produce as one of the very best playmakers in the NBA, capable of generating open looks for teammates on the regular, and previously the Wizards were desperately in need of playmaking to push this offense forward. In general, there is still a lot of youth and inexperience on this roster, which will always reasonably make people wary about crowning them too soon, but they have the talent to make it to the play-in tournament at least. To make the playoffs will be an uphill battle because teams like the Knicks, 76ers, Heat, Celtics, Cavaliers, Pistons, Pacers, Raptors, Hawks, and Magic are also all in right now. and that's a list of 10 teams, meaning that they need to beat out three of them for that last playoff spot. I wouldn't count them out by any means, it's just going to be an uphill grind. Speaking of Jayden Bons, we can check out Kalshi and see that he's currently given a 15% chance to win the Rookie of the Year award. Personally, I like his chances quite a bit, so I am going to take him to win the award, and at this price, a $25 trade pays out $157 if you're right. Bons may be out at the moment, missing the first few games of the year, but his injury is not serious at all and he's already considered day-to-day so he's going to get back out there very soon, and it's probably best to take this now before he gets started and starts tearing it up. If you're interested in trying out Kalshi, sign up using my code HOOPS25 to get $55 added to your account instantly once you trade $25. The next hot take we'll be taking a look at comes from someone who actually submitted three here but we're focusing on that middle one there that says that the Memphis Grizzlies will finish ahead of the Portland Trailblazers after having traded John Morant to Portland so i wanted to pick this one out to discuss because outside of just this comment i've seen a lot of Memphis Grizzlies love across the media across social media conversations on things like Twitter and just in general where they're saying this group could be a dominant playoff team and i really struggle to understand why, so I wanted to really think about it by way of just talking about this take in particular. What the Grizzlies trading John Morant away represents is them shifting into a rebuild, and what I do definitely see when I look at this group is one that has an outstanding starting point for that process. This is a team already loaded with young talent that can all core together. Zach Edey, Cam Boozer, Cedric Coward, Jalen Wells, Taylor Hendricks, Kareem Lopez, that's a lot of upside and potential right there. What it feels like to me at least is some people recognize that insane amount of potential and are treating it as if it's already panned out when in reality it's just getting started with a ways to go. Zach Eadie is going into year three and I'll be the first to say that the strides he was taking last year gave good reason to start salivating if you're a Grizzlies fan. He was absorbing rebounds like it was nothing with his sheer size and strength, he was generating second chance opportunities on the offensive glass, he was improving as a scorer using his physicality more, and defensively, his presence alone makes life tough for any opponent around the rim. The problem is that he only played 11 games last season because he injured his ankle, and as a 7 foot 4 guy that weighs 300 pounds, things like that will always be a concern unfortunately. If the Grizzlies are going to compete for a play-in spot or a playoff spot. They would also need Cam Boozer to be the best version of himself immediately from day one, which is just not how the NBA works. Can Cam Boozer be one of the most well-rounded star power forwards in the league when he hits his prime? Yes, he absolutely can, but he's 19 years old right now, and not even the best 19-year-olds come in with that kind of consistency and impact right away. In general, this is a roster made up of a lot of quality role players and unproven youth that could blossom into more, but the truth of the matter is the NBA is a star-driven sport, and to compete at the absolute highest level, you do need to be led by elite star talent. I understand there's a sour taste left in the mouths by Ja Morant era ending how it did, but the Portland Trailblazers have established star talent in Deni Avdija, they have a guy in Ja Morant who could potentially rediscover his prior all-star form, they have dangerous veterans like Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday, and they have an established defensive identity that helped them make the playoffs last year. The Grizzlies hype feels very, I'm trying too hard to outsmart everybody else, and I really don't think they're going to be anything more than an exciting young team to watch that goes through the ups and downs all rebuilding teams go through. The next hot take we'll be taking a look at says that the Boston Celtics will not make the playoffs this year? This one's blazing hot, and I'm not going to start off by saying that I'm cosigning something like this as aggressive as this is by any means, but again, it is worth discussing why someone may feel this way. As we went over in the first segment about the Washington Wizards, there are a lot of teams currently fighting it out for eight playoff spots in the East. Teams with a realistic chance include the Knicks, 76ers, Heat, Raptors, Pacers, Cavaliers, Pistons, Wizards, Hawks, and Magic, and maybe the Charlotte Hornets, but to a lesser degree. Including the Celtics, that's 11, maybe 12 teams right there, meaning 3 or 4 of those groups, will end the year sorely disappointed, and after the opening game of the year, the Celtics are definitely not a perfect group. They did start hot in that game against Detroit in their opening game, and they even built a 22-point lead, doing what they've been doing for years now. The Celtics love to generate 3-point shots, and their lineup has a lot of three-point shooters, so when they heat up, they can bury teams, and that's almost what happened there as well. The issue is that you can't just rely on three-point shooting nonstop. You do need to keep defenses honest and shake things up with a balance of internal creation generating rim pressure, and that's the Celtics' current big problem. Jason Tatum is now the unquestioned top dog of this group after the departure of Jalen Brown. In years past, Tatum has been able to survive his off-shooting nights because he's had teammates that can pick him up and handle more of the on-ball duties in his off-shooting nights, but that's much less of the case with this current roster. Paul George did catch fire in his debut with the team, but it was purely off of jump shooting. At George's age, he no longer has the chops on-balled to break defenders down and get to the rim. Derek White's efficiency tanked last season in his first year in a more prominent role of creation, and that trend continued in the playoffs where he shot the ball pretty awfully. Jason Tatum himself is undoubtedly a great scorer, but he's yet another talent that does a lot of his work seeking out jumpers both from three and in the midrange on pull-ups, post-fades, and the like. Rim pressure has always been one of the weaknesses of Tatum's game, and now it's about to be amplified a ton on a roster that lacks rim pressure in general. You also have to factor in that this version of Jason Tatum is post-Achilles tear, so that could play a part in the rest of his career, potentially. Now, with all of this being said, do I believe it will result in the Celtics missing the playoffs? No, I really don't. I think more realistically, everybody just needs to be more realistic about their expectations of Boston. Most preseason predictions had them sitting as a top two seed in the conference standings, and that may be too lofty, but ultimately, I'd be shocked if they fell all the way out of the playoff mix. And finally, the last hot take we'll be taking a look at says that the Minnesota Timberwolves will struggle for most of the regular season trying to figure out how to gel with this new look group. So the Timberwolves have actually been one of the most successful teams in the West over the last few years, but just haven't been able to get over the hump like the Thunder and the Spurs have. They've been to the conference finals twice, but still need another boost to get to the promised land which is the ultimate goal. They have the best shooting guard in the NBA in Anthony Edwards, and finding the right pieces to put around him has been the priority ever since he was drafted, and during this process, the point guard position had been especially weak with this group until now. This summer, they traded for LaMelo Ball, who is easily the best playmaker that Edwards has played with in the NBA, and together, they're going to form arguably the most fun backcourt in the whole league. Fun doesn't always equate to wins, though. In this whole process, the Wolves have lost quite a bit of their depth. They also offloaded Julius Randle onto the Nets, who it can be argued is an addition by subtraction situation, but what they replaced him with is far less proven. They also lost backup big Nas Reid in the process of adding LaMelo Ball, so now they are turning to Johan Berenger to be the backup center, and he is a player that barely played at all as a rookie last season. Jonathan Kuminga was the team's other big addition this offseason, but Kuminga's career has been one long rollercoaster, and at this point, I'll believe that he can truly embrace the role of a role player when I see it, because he's found himself in the doghouse at some point every year of his five-year career. This group should be great on defense with players like Rudy Gobert, Io DeSumo, and Jaden McDaniels more prominently featured, but off the bench, it's nothing but question marks. Can LaMelo Ball actually play winning basketball? He has zero playoff experience yet in his entire career, so this is a big test. Again, I do still think the Wolves have enough to make the playoffs without that much pushback, but I don't think finish as a top seed in the Western Conference, so to an extent, I agree with this hot take. And with that being said, that's all I have for you today. Make sure to like the video, subscribe to the channel, and comment down below what you think about these takes we discussed. Thanks for watching, and I'll see you all next time.