The NBA has achieved a impressive task with Competition Week. Sam Presti vs. his mentors in Oklahoma Town took a backseat to Chet Holmgren vs. Victor Wembanyama. That conflict felt like a long term NBA Finals showdown. Devin Booker and Luka Doncic exchanged their same old vitriol and potshots at one any other. On the other hand, the nourishment of an already budding contention was once essentially the most related takeaway from this week in NBA motion. The Milwaukee Greenbacks used contention week as a chance to dial up the depth in their try to catch the Boston Celtics within the Jap Convention.
It wouldn’t had been entire with out the Greenbacks ejecting Adrian Griffin to make room for the training narcotic this is Glenn “Document” Rivers. In a couple of weeks, it is going to be as though Griffin by no means existed at the Greenbacks sideline. The Greenbacks indubitably didn’t appear too bummed of their first recreation since Griffin was once fired.
Rivers is respected in Boston. Perhaps no longer up to Invoice Belichick, however on par with Terry Francona. He’s accountable for the Boston Celtics franchise’s most up-to-date championship, and in December, referred to as his stint in Boston the most productive duration of his lifestyles in sports activities, prior to he was once venerated at TD Lawn. For the second one time even though, Rivers will probably be thrust into an obligation that places him in struggle with the Celtics. Boston’s stranglehold over the department was once amplified through the purchase of former Greenback Jrue Vacation by the use of a 3rd birthday party.
If Vacation polishing off in Boston’s backcourt was once the outlet salvo within the Boston-Milwaukee wars, then Rivers is the escalation. The remaining time Boston and Milwaukee confronted off in a seven-game sequence, Boston clobbered Milwaukee in a 7th recreation. This time, it’s non-public. The Lillard-Vacation matchup goes to be a storyline that defines any attainable sequence, however Rivers and Vacation make this extra difficult than in years previous.
On the time Lillard was once got, Vacation was once framed because the Demar DeRozan replace in a industry that was once analogous to the Raptors 2019 acquisition of Kawhi Leonard. It was once a chance to their chemistry, however the hope was once {that a} shakeup of the roster would encourage Giannis Antetokounmpo to re-up for an extension and propel a contender that had regressed again to an NBA Finals. Lillard’s acquisition equipped offensive firepower and a secondary scorer who may ease Antetokounmpo’s load, however the Lillard-Vacation additionally depressed a protection that most often ranked a number of the league’s absolute best all the way through Mike Budenholzer’s tenure.
In the end, their bottom-third protection performed a key function in Griffin’s firing. It won’t had been the one reason why, but it surely was once a vital catalyst. If Rivers were unemployed a 12 months previous, I wouldn’t have put it previous the Celtics to nominate him as Ime Udoka’s alternative as soon as he was once suspended and in the long run disregarded prior to the 2022-23 season for having an beside the point courting with an worker.
There’s just one factor that may repair each groups. A hypothetical Document Rivers and Damian Lillard for Joe Mazzulla and Brad Stevens change makes each franchises complete. Who says no? Vacation is almost certainly extra liked in Milwaukee than in Boston up to now. At the moment, how’s fourth mess around to Derrick White? Should you requested Greenbacks lovers as of late in the event that they’d make the Lillard industry once more figuring out what they know now, part would say sure. As for Lillard, he’d get to pair with a backcourt spouse who can cover his defensive, um, inadequacies. Rivers and the Celtics simply belong in combination like Invoice Russell and Beantown. Boston’s President of Basketball Operations would descend again to the sidelines to fulfill that training itch for a contender.
Perhaps that is one thing to revisit within the offseason if the Philadelphia 76ers in spite of everything achieve their apex and win the East. Celtics possession wouldn’t hesitate if they may be able to’t recover from the championship hump once more. The Greeks had a phrase for forces uniting towards a 3rd birthday party: Sunkretizein. No person apart from Jayson Tatum is secure on Boston’s brief roster.
Coincidentally, one of the most remaining circumstances of a trainer being traded was once the Celtics sending Rivers to the Clippers in change for a 2015 first-round pick out, which Boston used on a guard out of Georgia State who by no means factored into their rotation.
In the end, that is a long way too difficult to make occur, however take into consideration the upsides for each groups. Rivers and Vacation collapsing the arc of one another’s careers into an excellent time loop is an concept so loopy, that it simply may paintings. The NBA can get bizarre, so by no means say by no means. Within the interim, we will accept the difficult feelings that may stem from a Celtics and Greenbacks playoff sequence.
Observe DJ Dunson on X: @cerebralsportex
