Far but not far
End of the first half, with Wizards, Knicks, Celtics and Hornets stuck in an Eastern Conference worth following every night.
On the one hand, the Big Three of the Bulls, guilty of Chicago fans once again dreaming of being present on the road to fighting for the championship. But it is that reasons are not lacking for those of the United Center, with players such as LaVine, Vucevic and the electric DeRozan, the aspirations are maximum for a team that also has White's triples.
The Cavs of rookie of the year contender Evan Mobley, and newcomer Caris LeVert, who seem to have clear indications from point guard Darius Garland, are also regularly enlisted. The Cleveland team has been able to solve the plague of injuries that has stopped, among others, Collin Sexton and the Spanish Ricky Rubio who has gone to the Pacers although not to play this course.
The shadow grows bigger with the Raptors of the fearsome Pascal Siakam, and the Heat of Jimmy Butler, who cover in darkness the great teams from Brooklyn, Mileaukee and Philadelphia. Although the latter also played desposte last year not wanting to be entirely protagonists, and Antetokounmpo and company finally took the ring home,
To break into the storm with sunny days, the Nets and the Sixers have agreed to a trade that seems to benefit both; Ben Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond go to the city of skyscrapers and make room for James Harden and Paul Millsap. Those of Steve Nash, who aspired to everything, are forced to exercise a plan C, in which Durant will continue to be the top star and Irving will continue with his day yes, day no due to the refusal to get vaccinated.
"The cards are on the table, but there is always an ace up your sleeve"
In the West, the caricature of the previous year is drawn, with an unstoppable Chris Paul raising the company together with his partner Davin Booker, keeping the Suns in the fight for the first place in the Conference.
Meanwhile, Curry receives a hug from Ray Allen at Madison Square Garden after assaulting the throne of the best three-point shooter in history (and that he still has a career ahead of him to take the number where he wants), the Warrios recover their game , the illusion in San Francisco, and the celebrated return of Klay Thompson.
The other side of the coin is put by the two Los Angeles teams. The Lakers do not find the key to success with point guard Russell Westbrook, but they do not remedy it either. The Clippers do seem to want to reverse the situation and bring in Norman Powell and Robert Covington to lift the spirits of Leonard and George.
There is still a season, but not that long. We know that with the goodbye of Porzingis, Luka Doncic truly becomes lord and master of some rising Mavericks, The Grizlies continue to show "the little leg". Domantas Sabonis arrives in Sacramento to bring the Kings close to the Play-in. And the Serb, Nikola Jokic, defends his MVP even without Jamal Murray on the court,
AZP