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Hey Dubs, anyone tried to fantasize the hell of a team that would result putting together the players traded by the Swampers? Let’s try: 1. Schroeder, Ball 2. Caruso, KCP. 3. Ingram 5. McGee help me along, it’s fun!

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Dec 28, 2021·edited Dec 28, 2021

Some fun oddities from 538's RAPTOR stats.

1. Warriors are the only team with two players in the top Total RAPTOR—Steph Curry (#2) and Gary Payton II (#4). The Bucks are close, with Giannis (#3) and Jrue (#11).

2. The only Suns player in the top 50 is JaVale McGee (#12), which makes some sense because he's a 3-time champ which is 3 rings more than the rest of the team put together.

3. The three best defensive guards according to RAPTOR are Payton, Caruso, and Thybulle.

4. KD is only the second-best Kevin by Total RAPTOR, behind Love because KD's defense is rated as slightly negative, worse than Houston's Kevin Porter Jr (rated moderately positive on D) but still ahead of Kevin Huerter.

5. Of 95 rookies (including undrafted players), Kuminga is 26th in minutes and Moody is 32nd. Both have negative overall ratings, but are +0.5 on defense, which puts them in the top 40% of the league.

Speaking of JaVale's titles, it's fun to note that there are guys like Damian Jones, Quinn Cook, or Pat McCaw who have more rings than many whole teams.

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Nets are stomping on the Clippers so far. If Brooklyn holds on and wins (and honestly, kinda embarrassing for them if they don't), then there will be 4 teams in the west with winning records. That's just weird.

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Grizzlies beat the Suns 114-113.

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Suns took the lead 113-112 with Booker's 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left to go. Grizzlies counter with a Ja Morant jumper with 0.5 seconds left to go and are up 114-113.

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Dec 28, 2021·edited Dec 28, 2021

Memphis up 2 with the ball, 32 seconds left.

Would love to see current seeding for Western Conference semis - Warriors vs. Grizzlies and Suns vs. Jazz. Would make for some great hoops.

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On the pleasant side, I'm enjoying an early Memphis lead over Phoenix. Hard to root for Memphis but it's all about the enemy of my enemy is my friend tonight. On the less pleasant side, it does start to feel like the NBA should release a list of players *NOT* on the H&SP. "Tonight, the available players across the league are: 1. The recently unretired Darren Collison, 2. Isaiaih Thomas, and 3. A guy from the G-League Mad Ants whose name we haven't confirmed. Enjoy your viewing!"

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Wiggins isn't on injury report for tomorrow

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Clicked through one of the links below and eventually surfed my way to this. If you are not already a fan of Kareem, this will make you one. If it does not, you cannot be saved:

https://kareem.substack.com/p/dear-lebron-heres-the-covid-19-help

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Vaccinated NBA players and coaches can now clear quarantine after six days if Covid-testing data shows they’re no longer at risk to be infectious, according to a memo distributed to teams Monday and obtained by ESPN.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1475575903958802432

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I wonder if the Warriors are going to call up Jordan Bell. No Green, and we got the Nuggets twice this week. We are gonna get cooked if the answer is Bjeli and JTA at center against Jokic.... well, I guess Jordan Bell gets cooked against him too...

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-Suns assistant coach Kevin Young will be the acting coach during Williams's absence

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1475533191947730945

-Blazer assistant Scott Brooks will be the acting coach in Billups's absence. Billups has recently entered Covid safety and protocols

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1475537080403087361

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-Celtics' Jayson Tatum has entered Covid safety and protocols

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1475491694585995271

-Hawks' Delon Wright has entered Covid safety and protocols

https://twitter.com/chriskirschner/status/1475493158284894218

-Suns head coach Monty Williams has entered Covid safety and protocols

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1475529317279010827

-Grizzlies are signing G-League forward Xavier Sneed to a 10-day hardship deal

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1475508691646492672

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