Notes from the basement

Thoughts on the Jazz, Wizards, Nets, Hornets, and Trail Blazers before an electric weekend of basketball!

We are so close to the finish line. I’ll have my typical mega playoff preview coming as soon as possible. However, there’s still an outrageous amount of uncertainty, particularly in the West, where seeds 3-8 are jumbled up like a postgame Jenga tower.

Here’s what’s left of the schedule. Everyone in the league plays tonight. Two days later, on Sunday, April 13th, all the Eastern teams play at 1:00 ET and all the Western teams at 3:30 ET. It’s gorgeous insanity! The NBA is making it so teams can’t peek at the standings/scores and tank into better matchups; get too cute, and you might get burned.

Teams obviously want higher seeds for home-court advantage and to avoid the uncertainty of single-elimination play-in games, but another benefit is that top-six seeds get about a week of rest. After Sunday’s madness, we have the play-in games on Tue/Wed/Fri, and then the playoffs finally tip off on Saturday, April 19th.

In other words, we’re about to talk about postseason teams for two straight months. So, as we wait for the dust to settle on this crazy regular season, I wanted to empty the notebook a bit and chat about a handful of the league’s bottom-feeders.

Washington Wizards

Free from the burden of expectations, the Wizards are… not flourishing, definitely not flourishing. Surviving? Playing! Let’s go with playing, in the most traditional sense.

These guys are playing a game, and despite their overall awfulness, there have been plenty of enjoyable moments. The three drafted rookies (Alex Sarr, Kyshawn George, and Bub Carrington) have all had their share of highlights.

In particular, George is made up of all the things I love in a basketball player: sugar, spice, completely unearned confidence in his three-point shot, an uncanny ability to do sh*t on defense (his block and steal rates are both excellent), and a pretty, syncopated passing game:

Of all the first-year players on Washington’s team, George has the clearest path to relevancy on a future playoff team.

AJ Johnson — a fourth rookie, acquired in the Kyle Kuzma trade — already has fans drooling with his mischievous handle and athletic derring-do:

The aggression, the creativity, the exuberance! There’s a shadow of a hint of a whiff of Ja Morant in there, I swear. (Don’t worry that Johnson is shooting 27% from deep and just had a 1-for-11 game. That’s a problem for later.)

Fittingly for the Wizards, I’m in the tank for Washington. The ‘26-’27 ‘Zards will be a force.

Brooklyn Nets

One guy I haven’t talked much about who deserves some praise is Nets combo guard Tyrese Martin.

Martin is a rarity, a freshly-turned 26-year-old with just 16 career NBA games before this season. Guys his age rarely receive another chance. But a Brooklyn team that has outperformed meager expectations has relied upon him heavily, and he’s proven capable of hanging in the league.

The 6’6” Martin has played everything from point guard to power forward. He’s started, and he’s been out of the rotation. Through it all, he’s maintained his readiness to play and taken advantage of whatever opportunities he’s been afforded, averaging almost nine points, four rebounds, and two assists.

He isn’t a quick-twitch athlete and doesn’t get many steals or blocks, but he knows the defensive scheme and is usually in the right spots at the right times. He’s strong, which helps alleviate quickness concerns, and an excellent positional rebounder.

Martin isn’t a full-time point guard, but he’s a solid playmaker who can run a functional pick-and-roll, something few healthy remaining bodies in Brooklyn can do. His shooting efficiency leaves something to be desired, but he’s not in a great ecosystem for fostering a healthy shot diet, either.

The three-point shooting has been up and down, but it’s mostly been up of late — he shot 41% in March. He’s hitting a hair under 36% for the season, which needs improvement if Martin wants to hold onto his mid-twenties minutes count next season. (He is hitting 38% of his catch-and-shoot triples, a more promising number.)

When Martin can get to the rim, he’s been an effective finisher, canning 73% of his point-blank shots. To alleviate Martin’s relatively slow first step, coach Jordi Fernandez puts him in a ton of dribble hand-off and shovel-pass situations to get him the ball on the move:

Martin doesn’t have flashy highlights or eye-popping numbers; there’s a reason that he’s 26 and getting his first real NBA minutes. But solidness and reliability are essential traits for role players, especially for a team like Brooklyn that will likely continue its losing ways for the next few seasons.

As Coach Jordi Fernandez said upon Martin converting his two-way contract to a full-time gig in February, “He’s had big games, but the most important thing is he’s about the right things. Working every day, getting better, and we love him. We love him around here.”

Creating and maintaining a professional culture is one of the hardest things to do on early-rebuild teams. Martin’s ability to produce positive results on and off the court has made him a rare bright spot in Brooklyn.

Utah Jazz

I’ve talked about Isaiah Collier’s electrifying passing (and even more electrifying turnovers), I’ve discussed John Collins’ bizarrely efficient season, and I just highlighted the offensive promise (and offensive defense; there’s a difference, if you can hear my inflection) of Kyle Filipowski.

But I’ve been remiss in not discussing Walker Kessler at length this season.

Finally freed to start, Kessler has been almost everything fans have hoped for, leading the league in blocks (non-Wemby edition) while posting career-best rebounding and foul rates. He’s even shown improved touch around the rim (although it doesn’t translate to the free-throw line yet).

Kessler is already a defensive force who would look so much better if he had a little help from the perimeter defenders around him. He is constantly caught in hopeless 2-on-1 situations. Even then, he can sometimes pull miracles (what on Earth is Jazzman Keyonte George doing here?):

I’m not sure Kessler will ever enter the Rudy Gobert-level heights we expected after his astonishing rookie season. Still, he’ll be part of All-Defensive Team conversations as soon as the Jazz start trying to win.

Portland Trail Blazers

Outside of Toumani Camara’s surge, I’ve been incredibly confused by the Blazers’ experience this year. Why can’t anthropomorphized rocket ship Shaedon Sharpe hit a three-pointer anymore? Is Scoot Henderson’s improvement real, a phantasmagorical product of playing more often against backups, or something in between? Is Chauncey Billups a half-decent coach now?

The last question is fascinating. Billups has made some brave decisions in the team's best interests, including moving the Sharpe/Henderson backcourt to the bench to help them get their feet under them and leaning heavily into a breakneck full-court defensive style. There’s also undeniable talent on this roster, and while they overperformed expectations this season, they’ve underperformed under Billups in the past.

In a deep (if more top-heavy than I expected) Western Conference, can Portland find an offensive tentpole to carry them to a play-in berth next year? And how likely is it that Deni Avdija (a Basketball Poetry favorite who seemingly revs it up every March) can be that guy?

In 20 post-All-Star games, Avdija is averaging 23/10/5 on ridiculous 64% true shooting, including 41% from deep. Those are All-Star numbers, and they aren’t just good stats for a bad team — the Blazers have played roughly .500 ball since mid-January, including plenty of wins over teams that were trying.

Portland is still a big-time scorer away from making noise, but something fascinating is brewing in the country’s beer capital.

Charlotte Hornets

It was a challenging year for Hornets fans (is it ever not?). They did some nice moves around the margins to snag picks for some of their veterans (and for taking on other teams’ deadweight), but in terms of on-court play, injuries have ensured there hasn’t been too much to talk about.

Mark Williams missed half the season and was traded away (until he wasn’t). LaMelo Ball missed almost half the season. Brandon Miller missed most of it. After a solid start, Grant Williams tore his ACL.

Josh Okogie brought some much-needed defensive verve until he obliterated his hamstring and missed almost two months. Tre Mann’s baggy shorts played 13 scintillating games, and then he missed the rest of the season with back problems (never a good sign).

With all these injuries, I wish I could say that the back of the roster showed some exciting stuff, but honestly? I don’t really have a lot of interesting notes. Thank the basketball gods for Moussa Diabate’s relentless honey badger rebounding efforts, which gave announcer Eric Collins something to scream about.

I’m still convinced the Hornets, about to add what they hope will be a top-three selection, have a bright future. There is plenty of young talent on the roster. But keeping their guys on the court is priority number one.