By: Aryahi, Shaurya, Aizack, Sahbaj
The 2021 - 2022 NBA season is going to kick off on October 19, 2021. The first game will be between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks at 4:30 PST on October 19, 2021 and just right after that is the Warriors vs. the Lakers. This season, the Warriors also have a very good chance of winning the trophy. Sources are saying that Klay Thompson will be fully recovered from his injury in early 2022, so hopefully he comes back soon. A variety of trades also happened in the last few months. The Bulls have added Lonzo Ball and Demar Derozan. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Kyle Kuzma, and Montrezl Harrell have all been traded to the Washington Wizards for Russell Westbrook, who has been traded 3 years in a row. With Russell Westbrook now gone, the Wizards may not be able to perform as well. With all these trades, there are going to be so many important key matchups. Teams like the Nets, Bucks, Clippers, Warriors, and Lakers are some of the best teams this season. There was also a lot of controversy last year as to who should have won MVP. Some believe that Nikola Jokic shouldn’t have won MVP, while others believe that he fully deserved it. With so many contenders for the trophy this season, it’s going to be quite difficult to conclude who’s going to win.
The 2021 MVP Race
Nikola Jokic won as MVP last season as the clear favorite, but did he really deserve it? He won it mostly for the fact that he was a big man who almost averaged a triple double, which is very fair, but with Russell Westbrook who was averaging 22 points, 11 assist, and 11 rebounds in 65 games. However, Russell Westbrook wasn’t even a candidate for MVP. Another player that should have been considered more in the race was Steph Curry, who averaged 32 points, 5 assist, and 5 rebounds. He also clutched the scoring title, but it wasn’t just the statistics that got him there. It was also the way he carried the Warriors all the way to the 8th seed. (but sadly knocked off in the play-in.) He got them from one of the worst team in the league to the playoffs, to a team that was playing pretty well. Another possible candidate for MVP was Joel Embiid. He averaged 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 assists a game. While only playing 51 games and losing 3 to 4 to the Atlanta Hawks. All of these players were pretty strong candidates in our opinion. Who do you think should’ve been MVP?
The Two Best Free Agency Moves
Every year, there are always a few trades that stand out to us. When multiple trades happen, two or three teams always benefit the most. Although different trades are important for different teams, two trades caught our eye. The first trade is Russell Westbrook going to the Lakers. The two key teams this season are the Nets and the Lakers. The Nets are already very powerful with Kyrie Irving, James Harden, and Kevin Durant. The Lakers clearly want a chance to win another championship while Lebron James is playing for them. Adding Russell Westbrook to the Lakers was perfect because of the pace that he plays with. It will speed the game up for the Lakers and create open shots for the other role players on the team. Because of this trade, the Lakers have a pretty good shot at winning this years NBA Championships.
The second trade that caught our attention was the Demar Derozan trade to the Chicago Bulls. Before this trade, the Bulls didn’t have another extremely skilled player. Zach LaVine was doing a lot for the Bulls but in the end, he can’t do everything on his own. With Demar Derozan being unbeatable in the clutch last season, he and Zach LaVine will be one of the best duos heading into the last five minutes of the game.
Key Matchups for the Season
When the schedule for the season is released, most people will just care about the big matchups. The first key matchup is the Brooklyn Nets versus the Los Angeles Lakers. Each team now has a big three and it will be interesting to see how the two teams play. The second matchup is the Lakers and the Warriors. They had a great play-in matchup before the playoffs this season, and we’re not expecting anything less from Stephen Curry and Lebron James. The same thing applies for the Warriors and the Nets. We are expecting an action packed game versus two of the best players in the NBA; Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. Lastly, based on last years Eastern Conference Semifinals, the Bucks and Nets will be another great key matchup because of how powerful each team is this season. The Bucks and The Nets have extremely skilled players on their team so it makes sense as to why this game will be important.
As you can see, this is going to be a very interesting season. With so many new players and trades on so many different teams, we can’t really predict for sure who’s going to win. Some teams look like they are going all out for the ring. Others want to wait for some younger players to build on. We’re sure that all of you can’t wait for the new NBA season to start!
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