New owner syndrome

Fri, March 15th, 2024

Author

The Grip
March 15, 2024

The Opening Tip

  • The Suns should be better

  • Daniel Gafford fell two shots short of history 

  • Middle ground in the Jaylen Brown discourse

Must-watch games

1. This is not what they had in mind

Bill Simmons’ best Simmons-ism is the idea of New Owner Syndrome. AKA, an owner buys a team and just goes fucking crazy.

Matt Ishbia officially bought the Suns on Feb. 6, 2023. Since then, he has just gone fucking crazy. 

  • Literal hours after the sale went through, he learned he could simply say ‘yes’ and have Kevin Durant on his team, and so the Suns gave up a historic haul for Kevin Durant

  • Over the offseason, he learned he could simply say ‘yes’ and have Brad Beal on his team, and so the Suns gave up more depth to take on one of the worst deals in the league

They entered this season all-all-all-in with an extremely expensive roster, and look where it’s gotten them: A middling 10 games over .500, a spot in the play-in and the third hardest remaining record in the league.

Because of age and injuries and Kevin Durant’s finger perma-placed over the ‘Trade Me’ button, this is probably the best this iteration of the Suns will ever be, which is unfortunate, because it isn’t nearly good enough.

2. Daily GIF: 33 for 34

This mundane brick from last night’s Mavs-Thunder game was Daniel Gafford’s first miss in 34 attempts.

He had made 33 straight shots -- a record in the play-by-play tracking era and just two off Wilt’s all-time record of 35, which was set in 1967.

[WATCH: All 33 of Gafford’s consecutive baskets]

3. Trivia

Four NBA teams won titles in the 1980s, including the Lakers, Pistons and Celtics. Who's the other?

• Bucks

• Sonics

• Bulls

• 76ers

Guess, click and see if you're right.

4. He’s overpaid and he’s not a superstar, but also he’s really quite good

Our attempt at nuance, in two points.

One: Jaylen Brown had a career year last year, which could not have come at a better time.

  • It earned him All-NBA second-team, which triggered his supermax eligibility in the same summer he came up for an extension. Because teams get skittish about ‘losing the asset,’ the Celtics bit the bullet and locked him in long-term, which is how Brown, a top 15-20-ish player, signed a five-year, $304M deal, the largest in NBA history.

  • He is, by any metric, overpaid -- a perennial All-Star compensated like a perennial MVP.

Two: He’s much better than the left hand jokes would suggest.

  • Since the All-Star Break, he’s averaging 28.9 PPG on .540-.406-.647* on 1.3 turnovers per game.

  • He dropped 41 on Denver and 37 on Phoenix last night. Plus, he dunked on Grayson Allen. He’s up to 23.1 PPG for the season on over 50% shooting.

  • He was an All-Star lock in February and will probably make an All-NBA team again. 

Which brings us back to the original point … he’s overpaid and he’s not a superstar, but also he’s really quite good.

*He still sucks at free-throws.

Quick hits

  • Shout out to Chuck for calling out ESPN’s never-ending obsession with the Lakers and Warriors. 

  • Domas Sabonis wants you to stop talking about how he wrecks Anthony Davis every time they play. 

  • Patrick Beverley is the king of micro-aggressions. 

  • Jalen Green crossover + stare + 3-pointer. 

  • Joe Mazzulla is a complete psycho.

  • We have some friendly French big man banter.  

  • NC State, which usually cannot have nice things, beat Duke last night in a massive upset in the ACC tournament quarterfinals. The Pack are now two wins from their first ACC title since 1987.

Reads

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