The Cleveland Cavaliers are playing their third game of the season against the Charlotte Hornets. They are 1-1 in their season series so far. Let’s take a look at what we should keep our eyes on tonight.
3PT Shooting
Last season, the Cavs were one of the top three-point shooting teams in the NBA. I’d argue that high-volume shooting and crisp ball movement were their identity. Now? Not so much.
Cleveland has gradually gone away from the three-point line after leading the league in attempts by a wide margin to start the season. The Cavs are now third in three-point attempts per game this season and have fallen to 13th over their last 15 games.
This is largely because the team has lost much of its three-point talent. Darius Garland, Sam Merrill and Max Strus haven’t been available. Ty Jerome, Caris LeVert, and Georges Niang are no longer on the roster. It’s hard to replicate last season when it simply isn’t the same roster.
That said, I’d like to see the Cavs re-establish themselves as a three-point shooting team. You don’t abandon the identity that made you a 64-win team last season just because the roster has changed. You stick to a process and figure out how to make it work.
Energy and Effort
I wish this weren’t such a theme this season, but it’s worth keeping an eye on. We might know the outcome of this game in the opening minutes.
Does it look like the Cavs are playing focused, high-effort basketball? Then they’ll win this game easily. But if we get to the second quarter and the team is disorganized, then get ready for a long night.
To their credit, Cleveland has been much more locked in than before. They’ve begun to turn their season around recently, even if a 32-point loss to the Thunder might make you feel otherwise. I have a reasonable amount of faith that the Cavs will approach this game with the appropriate energy.
Evan Mobley’s Usage
I’m going to make this last one simple. Evan Mobley, we need you to score 20+ points tonight. Or at least try to.
The Cavs have lacked offensive firepower this season. And, without Garland again in this matchup, they don’t have many options to turn to. There’s no reason why Mobley shouldn’t be thrust back into the spotlight and expected to carry them with his scoring.
Evan Mobley's FGAs have steadily dropped each month this season
OCT: 14.8 FGAs per game NOV: 13.5 FGAs per game DEC: 12.8 FGAs per game JAN: 12.0 FGAs per game
Cleveland experimented with Mobley’s usage earlier in the season but quickly pulled the plug. That’s not good enough. This team doesn’t reach its ceiling if they don’t push Mobley out of his comfort zone. It’s a two-way street, of course. But an aggressive scoring game from Mobley is long overdue at this point.
The Vancouver Canucks (16-28-5) continue their homestand on Wednesday as they face the Washington Capitals. Vancouver enters this game looking not just to end an 11-game losing streak, but pick up their first win of 2026. As for the Capitals, they have also hit a rough patch of late as they enter Wednesday with a 3-6-1 record in their last 10.
While the Canucks did skate away with a victory the last time these two teams played, it was a costly game for Vancouver. The Canucks sustained multiple injuries, with Teddy Blueger and Filip Chytil yet to return to the lineup since the October 19 matchup. Based on Adam Foote's comments this week, Blueger may be ready to come off IR on Wednesday, which would provide the team a massive boost at center ice.
The big question heading into this game is, will the losing streak finally end? Vancouver has not won a game since December 29, while their last home victory came on December 6. Even though a loss hurts the tank, picking a win in front of the home crowd every once in a while would be appreciated.
Players To Watch:
Filip Hronek:
Filip Hronek has stepped up his game since the Quinn Hughes trade. The 28-year-old played 28:01 on Monday and has already surpassed the 25-assist mark for the third straight season. Hronek has become a leader on the ice for the Canucks and is showing he can be a successful top pair defenceman regardless of who is partner is.
Alex Ovechkin:
Wednesday could be the final time fans get to see Alex Ovechkin play at Rogers Arena. The NHL's all-time leading goal scorer hasn't indicated whether he will play next year or not, but he is an unrestricted free agent after the season. If this is the end of the road for the "Great 8", he has certainly made his presence known in Vancouver, as he has 16 goals and 27 points in 29 career games against the Canucks.
Oct 19, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin (8) chases the puck in front of Vancouver Canucks left wing Evander Kane (91) during the third period at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
Vancouver Canucks (16–28–5):
Points:
Elias Pettersson: 13–16–29
Filip Hronek: 3–25–28
Jake DeBrusk: 12–10–22
Brock Boeser: 10–12–22
Linus Karlsson: 10-12-22
Goaltenders:
Thatcher Demko: 8–10–1
Kevin Lankinen: 6–14–4
Nikita Tolopilo: 2–3–0
Jiří Patera: 0–1–0
Washington Capitals (24–20–6):
Points:
Tom Wilson: 22-20-42
Alex Ovechkin: 20-22-42
John Carlson: 9-29-38
Dylan Strome: 11-26-37
Jakob Chychrun: 18-18-36
Goaltenders:
Logan Thompson: 17-14-4
Charlie Lindgren: 7-6-2
Game Information:
Start time: 7:00 pm PT
Venue: Rogers Arena
Television: Sportsnet
Radio: Sportsnet 650
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.
After losing to the Minnesota Wild for the last nine games, the Montreal Canadiens were finally able to put an end to that losing streak by taming their pet peeve. It wasn’t always easy, even against a team that was playing its third game in four nights, but when all was said and done after 60 minutes, the Habs had scored one more goal than the Wild, even if they scored the last one with just 15 seconds left.
For the first time since November 15, Kirby Dach was playing, and while there was some understandable rust, he didn’t look out of place playing alongside Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield on the first line. He spent almost 17 minutes on the ice despite missing over two months of action.
After mustering just 16 shots in regulation in their dramatic overtime win over the Ottawa Senators, the Canadiens did a lot of shooting at Monday’s practice in Brossard, and it showed. Martin St-Louis’ men had heard the message loud and clear, and they were shooting from left, right, and center throughout the first frame, reaching 15 shots, just one short of their Saturday night output.
Furthermore, they only allowed Minnesota to take two shots in the first 20 minutes, in what was perhaps their most dominant period of the season, even if the scoreboard didn’t make that overly obvious.
Montreal did struggle to get pucks on net at the start of the third frame, though, even though they enjoyed a power play. As the coach mentioned, their power play didn’t give them any momentum tonight, but there will be games like that. After 10 minutes, they had no shots, but once the Wild had equalized, they managed to test Jesper Wallstedt nine times, and the last one was the right one.
It Was A Struggle
If the Canadiens played well both offensively and defensively, Jakub Dobes struggled in net. It’s hard to fault him on the first goal, which came on a Vladimir Tarasenko one-timer on the power play, but the other two goals shouldn’t have gone in.
On the second one, Brock Faber took a shot that wasn’t all that strong from the blueline, and it wasn’t deflected, or at least not by anyone other than Dobes himself, who got some of it with his glove, but not enough, and the puck ended in the net.
It was the third goal that was the most unsettling, however, since the netminder lost his balance without being touched by anyone else, which unsteadied him, and less than 15 seconds later, the puck was in the net. Dobes has never been perfect from a technical standpoint, but if he loses his positioning when it’s not provoked, it won’t end well.
Oftentimes, he doesn’t look in control in the net, just like earlier in the third frame when he was scrambling madly to try to get the puck that was bouncing on the ice in the middle of traffic. He ended up looking like a bear skin in front of a fireplace back in the 1980’s, and while he didn’t have control of the puck, he mercifully got a quick whistle.
Since Jacob Fowler was sent back to the Laval Rocket, neither Dobes nor Samuel Montembeault has been very convincing in net.
Clutch Caufield
Once again, Cole Caufield came up clutch for the Canadiens, scoring his league-leading seventh game-winning goal of the season. There’s no denying that the sniper has talent, but he also has great instinct. Speaking after the game, St. Louis explained:
He takes a shot from there that’s not necessarily his spot, but it’s where the game was asking him to go, based on where everybody else was on the ice. We had a lot of motion […], but you have to have balance inside that motion. Danault was at the net, guys changed spots a lot during that sequence, Suzi ended up on the right, and then Cole came and supported that, to keep us in balance. It doesn’t guarantee he’s going to get it, but when you’re playing balanced, the guy who has the puck has options.
- Martin St-Louis on Caufield
That’s what’s special about Caufield: his ability to read the play and make the right decision. That’s the reason why a guy who many called “too small” can score so many goals in the NHL. Tonight’s lamplighter was his 25th of the season, meaning he’s on pace for 41 on the year.
It truly is surprising that Team USA considered that it didn’t need that kind of goal-scoring ability or that capacity to score when it matters the most.
The Canadiens will be back on the ice in Brossard on Wednesday morning to get ready for Thursday night’s duel with the Buffalo Sabres.
The 2025-26 NBA rookie class is absolutely packed with characters certain to draw intrigue from all corners of the basketball map. Of course, you have your Cooper Flagg, VJ Edgecombe, and Kon Knueppel upper-echelon of players who seem poised to one day control the ground they walk upon, but it isn’t challenging or interesting to talk about how excellent Dylan Harper is as a downhill attacker, or how seamless a fit Derik Queen has proved to be in a professional environment. I could harp on about the unexpected 3-point renaissance ushered by Brooklyn’s Egor Demin. I could rave about Cedric Coward and his miraculous journey from basketball limbo to becoming one of the most promising young players in his class.
Those topics have been discussed to death and will continue to be the headlines of their respective memoirs, biopics, documentaries, etc. More studious individuals than I have the patience to dive play-by-play into each of these players’ bodies of work to this point in the year. I’ll leave the in-depth, broad-stroked analysis to those characters.
Here’s what captures my attention: a player whose arrival was preceded by the promise of salvation to an organization in desperate need of a hero. The prize of a team that had gutted itself, tearing its foundation to meager scraps, all in the hopes of acquiring an all-world talent. An individual who carries a tremendous burden of expectation — an expectation both to elevate the ceiling of his team and to ascend to stardom.
The Utah Jazz tanked in 2025. They tanked hard. And after successfully finishing with the fewest wins in the entire association, their great reward arrived via a reverse-order, lottery-finalized draft. That reward was Airious “Ace” Bailey.
Ace has not been the most impressive rookie in his class. He won’t get many votes for Rookie of the Year. He may not even be the go-to guy when Utah is finally prepared to compete for more than just a spot in the playoffs. Ace Bailey is a mystery; one with tremendous promise, but a mystery nonetheless. So, what does Utah have in its bright-eyed rookie forward? Where does he stand among his fellow rookie classmates, and where does his roadmap lead to?
Welcome to the rookie ladder: just as they arrived, each of these newbies has a spot on the totem pole. That order has changed since draft night, and understanding the “why” and the “how” will be critical in projecting future development in the NBA. Keep in mind, of course, this is the rookie landscape through my eyes, meaning it is far from inarguable. I am aware of this fact.
NBA Rookie Ladder, January 2026:
Name, Draft Position, Season Stats:
Cooper Flagg (1) – 18.8 pts, 6.3 reb, 4.1 ast
Kon Knueppel (4) – 19.0 pts, 3.5 ast, 43.5% 3pt
VJ Edgecombe (3) – 15.6 pts, 4.3 ast, 1.5 stl
Dylan Harper (2) – 10.6 pts, 3.5 ast, 3.2 reb
Derik Queen (12) – 12.6 pts, 7.5 reb, 4.3 ast
Egor Demin (8) – 10.4 pts, 3.4 ast, 39.8% 3pt
Cedric Coward (11) – 14.0 pts, 6.5 reb, 2.9 ast
Ace Bailey (5) – 10.2 pts, 3.4 reb, 0.5 blk
Jeremiah Fears (7) – 13.9 pts, 3.7 reb, 3.2 ast
Maxime Reynaud (42) – 10.1 pts, 6.5 reb, 1.2 ast
In the short term, the Ace Bailey experience has been more akin to a teppanyaki-style pyrotechnics display than an all-you-can-eat buffet. There will be pyrotechnics — fire shooting from his fingertips, jaw-dropping displays of skill, the works — but if it’s a sustainable, reliable, and consistent eating experience you’re after, you’d better push your money into the Flagg, Knueppel, Harper eatery.
Me? I love the idea of a Japanese steakhouse, where the meal’s preparation is on full display for all participants, and watching every step, every flash of spectacle (of which there are many, in Ace’s case), and the evolution of what promises to be an incredible result. Ace Bailey is a work in progress; there were many reasons why he slid in the draft from 2nd to 5th. Likewise, there are many reasons to believe that his final product will be well worth the wait.
With respect to Cody Williams, a player who is finally striding in the right direction after a harrowing rookie campaign, Ace Bailey is a far more complete prospect than the Jazz’s highest selection from the season prior. Much more than just a lengthy frame with athletic tendencies, Bailey entered the NBA with elite athleticism and a pro-level diet of shot selection.
He’s already thrown down more than a few dunks this season, with a degree of difficulty and defiance of the laws of physics that make me question his humanity. Just take a look at this flat-footed yam that turned a pivot point into a launch pad.
This Ace Bailey slam is crazy. The combination of size and athleticism needed to pull this off. pic.twitter.com/YaQZk6SKQA
Earlier in the year, a late-game situation was approached with a nothing-to-lose up-and-under reverse two-handed slam that has me exhausted simply trying to describe it. He is aerobatic, he is graceful.
His defensive upside projects incredibly favorable as well, with footspeed to match some of the league’s shiftiest ball-handlers, and the length to erase any perceived offensive advantage in a heartbeat.
In the midst of a league-wide return of the mid-range shot, Ace Bailey feasts on a supply of turnarounds, fallaways, and pull-ups. Eyes wide, grin flashing, Ace proudly declared that “[If] nobody wants to take [a mid-range], I’ll take it. I love it!” in an interview with Kevin O’Connor (am I allowed to reference O’Connor on a Utah Jazz platform anymore?).
And with a surprising amount of patience and maturity for a player with a one as the first digit of his age, Ace is deliberate, smooth, and skilled at getting his high-release jumper off with minimal interference.
Don’t be alarmed to see Ace falling below his draft order on the rookie ladder; everything is still moving according to plan. If you feel antsy while awaiting his development, exercise a bit of patience. If the early positives are any indicator, Bailey projects to be a highly dangerous weapon in Will Hardy’s arsenal.
Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the NBA and College Sports since 2024.
Vibes. They are impossible to quantify, impossible to pin down, but you feel their absence immediately. You feel their presence even faster. Tuesday night had them. The Phoenix Suns, rolling into the City of Brotherly Love for the second game of a back-to-back, walked onto the floor with a pulse. A hum. Something alive.
Why were the vibes humming? Health. Actual, real, honest to basketball health. For the first time all season, everyone was available. No asterisks. No caveats. The full roster. Including Jalen Green, the centerpiece of the Kevin Durant trade, finally upright and ready to roll.
It did not start pretty. The Suns opened the night 0-of-9 from the field, cold, clunky, searching for rhythm. Philadelphia tried to punch, tried to manufacture runs, tried to tilt the floor. Phoenix bent. Phoenix answered. Every surge met with a response. Every wobble met with composure.
The numbers tell part of the story. 16-of-39 from deep, a clean 41%. 20-of-20 at the line. Then there was the bench. 58-28 in favor of Phoenix. Wave after wave. Energy that did not fade. Meanwhile, the 76ers were grinding through their own second night of a back-to-back, short-handed without Joel Embiid or Paul George, asking too much of too few.
This one mattered. Not for style points. For tone. For trajectory. For vibes. The win locks in a road trip where the floor is now .500, sitting at 3-2 with one left to play. The math works. The vibes agree. Sometimes basketball is less about schemes and more about momentum, belief, and bodies being available at the same time.
On this night, the Suns had all three.
Bright Side Baller Season Standings
Collin is now up to 8 Bright Side Baller’s on the year after a hyper-efficient 22-point performance against the Nets. Who woulda thunk it?
Bright Side Baller Nominees
Game 44 against the 76ers. Here are your nominees:
Simon Nemec played the hero again as he tallied the overtime game-winner to give the Devils a 2-1 win on Monday. Lenni Hameenaho made his NHL debut, and Luke Hughes left the game with an injury. [Devils NHL]
Truly a cursed season:
Sounds like initial diagnosis was #njdevils Luke Hughes dislocated his shoulder tonight in Calgary.
Will await word from Devils postgame and potential timeline as he continues to be evaluated.
Then on Tuesday, the Devils scored twice and held on for dear life in the third period against Connor McDavid and the Oilers to take a 2-1 win. [Devils NHL]
What life is like on the bench for the Devils: “Obviously, the coach can help a little bit, which he does, just addressing some structural things. But if guys aren’t going, if everyone is kind of lagging behind, you have to drag each other into the fight.” [The Hockey News]
Could the Leafs be a potential fit for a Dougie Hamilton trade? [The Athletic ($)]
“Should the New Jersey Devils be buyers this season? That depends. Rentals are out of the equation unless they go on some insane Buffalo Sabres-like heater over the next few weeks. That seems unlikely, though, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be buyers. Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald should be looking to add pieces that will help the team beyond the 2025-26 season, but there is a certain type of player he should be targeting.” [Devils on the Rush ($)]
John MacLean talks about notable moments in his career, the late Pat Burns and plenty more ahead of his induction into the Devils Ring of Honor on Jan. 27: [NHL.com]
Hockey Links
Where might Artemi Panarin end up in a trade? A look at a few potential destinations: [The Athletic ($)]
Linus Ullmark talks about his absence from the Senators: “The real reason is mental health. And there’s been a lot going on for a long time. I would say dating back to, ever since the trade, and a lot of things have been positive as well throughout the years or these times. But a lot of the things that I had gone through or worried about hasn’t really been dealt with in the right way. And so, things have been piling on – off the ice, on the ice, stuff like that. And it comes a time – and you never know when – where the cup starts to overflow.” [TSN]
Who:Pittsburgh Penguins (23-14-11, 57 points, 3rd place Metropolitan Division) @ Calgary Flames (21-23-5, 47 points, 7th place Pacific Division)
When: 9:30 p.m. eastern
How to Watch: Locally broadcast on Sportsnet Pittsburgh, SN1 and TVAS in Canada, streaming on ESPN+
Pens’ Path Ahead: The road trip continues tomorrow night in Edmonton, then an uncharacteristic two-day break gives the chance for some team bonding until the trip finishes up in Vancouver on Sunday. After that the Pens get a few days to regroup after heading home, not playing again until next Thursday Jan 29th to start their busy run to the upcoming Olympic break.
Opponent Track: Since we last saw the Flames in Pittsburgh on January 10th they went on to finish their eastern road trip with a loss to Columbus and win over Chicago before returning home to split another pair of games with a win over the Islanders last Saturday followed by a loss (in overtime) to the Devils in their last game on Monday. Thus continues an up-and-down stretch where they’ve won six out of the last 12 games (6-5-1).
Season Series: The Flames took a 2-1 decision in a rough and tumble game a couple weeks ago, Logan Cooley made 27 saves to break Pittsburgh’s then six-game winning streak. Egor Chinakhov scored the lone goal for the Pens, Matthew Coronato’s third period goal to break a 1-1 tie helped Calgary secure the win.
Hidden Stat: Rickard Rakell is on a three-game point streak. Pittsburgh is 12-2-2 this season when Rakell records a point (h/t Pens PR).
Getting to know the Flames
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Connor Zary – Nazem Kadri – Matvei Gridin
Jonathan Huberdeau – Morgan Frost – Joel Farabee
Yegor Sharangovich – Mikael Backlund – Matt Coronato
Ryan Lomberg – Justin Kirkland – Adam Klapka
DEFENSEMEN
Kevin Bahl / Zach Whitecloud
Yan Kuznetsov / MacKenzie Weegar
Joel Hanley / Hunter Brzustewicz
Goalies: Dustin Wolf and Devin Cooley
Potential scratches: Dryden Hunt, Brayden Pachal
Injured Reserve: Blake Coleman, John Beecher, Samuel Honzek, Jake Bean
The biggest change to the lines from the last recent PIT/CGY game is the trade departure of key defenseman Rasmus Andersson and the addition of Whitecloud from that transaction. It’s a big loss to the current squad – Anderssen had 10 goals and 30 points this season for the Flames, ranking third on the team in both categories.
The 21-year old Brzustewicz has replaced Anderssen on the top power play. Despite only having one career NHL point in 16 games, he has an offensive profile with a 92 point season in the OHL in 2023-24 and 44 points in the AHL since the start of the 2024-25 season.
Coleman, who was on IR back for the Jan 10th game, has dropped his no contact jersey in practice and may be nearing a return.
Perhaps luckily for Chinakhov, Brayden Pachal has been a scratch lately.
Wolf has been Calgary’s primary goalie, but lately there’s been more of an even split due to Cooley playing really well lately (including, as mentioned, in Calgary’s recent win over the Pens). The two Flames goalies have each played three out of the last six games, Cooley did play their last game. He picked up the loss in OT, but stopped 29/31 shots to get there. Given how well he did against Pittsburgh in the recent past, it’ll be interesting to see if the Flames go back to Cooley for this game or turn the net back over to their usual starter in Wolf, who is only 1-5-0 with a .891 save% and 3.71 GAA in the calendar year of 2026 (compared to Cooley’s 2-0-1 record, .951 save% and 1.33 GAA stat line).
The size and ruggedness of the Flames really stood out in their last game against the Pens. Klapka at 6’8” and 235 pounds is a menace and was getting under the skin of several Penguin players. Klapka’s 172 hits this season ranks 4th in the entire NHL, he’s going to throw the body on the forecheck on every available opportunity. Kevin Bahl at 6’6”, 230 has been a force averaging over 21 minutes per game this season, and has four assists in his last six games. Yan Kuznetsov presents another big body on the blueline, Pachal laid one of the biggest hits of the season last game. Mackenzie Weegar isn’t a huge frame, but a stout one with 117 hits this season. That game had a lot of tempers raised with post-whistle scrums and physicality throughout, surely that fresh memory will be at the top of everyone’s minds for tonight.
Generating offense has been a real struggle for the Flames. Their 2.55 goals/game mark is only 29th in the NHL, their power play at 14.9% is a dreadful 31st. It’s not for a lack of trying (28.9 shots/game ranks 12th) but the lack of skill and overall ability has hindered them in a major way.
Key to the game: Penguins vs. goalie
This one is pretty cut and dry; while the Flames have been impotent offensively and don’t have a lot going for them these days, the one area they are getting great inputs from is the play of their goalies. Early in the season that was Wolf, lately it’s been Cooley as the hot hand.
The Pens ran up a 2.75 expected goal total against Calgary on January 10th, yet Cooley only gave up one actual goal and the Flames won a 2-1 game almost entirely due to the strong play of their goalie. The Flames low overall talent level gives them a very narrow path towards winning games, they’re going to need a goalie to steal it for them more often than not. That presents a clear challenge for Pittsburgh in this game: overcome the Flames’ strongest suit in the goalie factor (whether it ends up being Cooley or Wolf) and the rest ought to be right there for the taking. A performance for the Pens similar to the last game against Seattle (where Pittsburgh scored 5 non-empty net goals on 2.88 expected) would be the ideal in this game, as it would in just about any game. Given Calgary’s unimpressive defensive metrics, that should be on the table, though Pittsburgh (at 9th in expected 5v5 goals and just 21st in 5v5 actual goals) will need to execute on their chances in ways they didn’t in the last meeting.
And now for the Pens
Projected lines
FORWARDS
Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust
Egor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin
Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau
Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari
DEFENSEMEN
Brett Kulak / Kris Letang?
Parker Wotherspoon / Ryan Shea
Ryan Graves / Connor Clifton
Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs
Potential Scratches: Jack St. Ivany, Kevin Hayes, Ilya Solovyov
IR: Erik Karlsson, Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones
All eyes will be on Letang after he missed practice yesterday and was deemed day-to-day with an upper body injury by the team. Letang’s potential absence or lack of being 100% is a huge blow for an already depleted blueline that doesn’t have Erik Karlsson.
Karlsson has said he’s feeling better but won’t play tonight, though it’s hard to tell when he’s being serious or not. You would think he’s not playing tonight, but who knows.
The current goalie rotation would mean Silovs plays tonight, though in game strategy with a very tough matchup looming tomorrow against Edmonton, does Dan Muse make a departure from that in hopes to put the goalie in better form out for the first game of the b-2-b where presumably the team has a better chance of a positive result? If not, Must may be bet Skinner can raise his levels against his former team tomorrow, though they already have seen Skinner play against the Oilers and it didn’t go well (5 goals against on 22 shots) which also can be a data point for the current decision.
Found it curious when early yesterday the Pens somewhat quietly sent Joona Koppanen back to the AHL, which didn’t make much sense on a long road trip like this. Turns out that was a precursor move to open up an NHL roster spot for the trade to bring in Ilya Solovyov and then it made perfect sense.
The multi-point master
Sidney Crosby is riding a streak of three-straight games with multiple points. Last game pushed him past Gordie Howe, the next one will tie Mark Messier and Marcel Dionne. Seemingly every game Crosby is approaching and/or passing legendary names in any number of categories – the two points last game vs. Seattle tied Mario Lemieux’s total of 784 road points.
On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, Bleed Cubbie Blue is pleased to present a Cubs-centric look at baseball’s colorful past. Here’s a handy Cubs timeline, to help you follow the various narrative paths.
“Maybe I called it wrong, but it’s official.” — Tom Connolly, HoF Umpire.
Happy Birthday to Mike Krukow*, farewell Hollywood Stars,and other storiesfor the discerning reader.
1953 – The Baseball Writers Association of America passes over Joe DiMaggio in his first year of eligibility and elects pitcher Dizzy Dean and outfielder Al Simmons to the Hall of Fame. Dean gathers 209 votes while Simmons’ total of 199 is one more than needed. The colorful Dean had a .644 career winning percentage and won 120 games from 1932 through 1936, including 30 wins in 1934. Simmons, who drove in 100 runs in each of his first eleven major league seasons, was one of the most feared hitters of his time. Also joining DiMaggio, who finishes eighth in the voting, are in order Bill Terry, Bill Dickey, Rabbit Maranville, Dazzy Vance, Ted Lyons, Charles Bender (ninth) and Gabby Hartnett (tenth). All will eventually make it. DiMaggio’s low total can be explained by the fact that there is no actual ballot, only write-in votes, and it is not clear whether DiMaggio is eligible since he played his last game only two years earlier. (1,2)
1522 – Head Inquisitor Adrian Florisz Boeyens is elected pope.
1793 – Louis XVI of France is executed by guillotine in Paris, following his conviction for “high treason” by the newly created French Parliament (Convention nationale), during the French Revolution.
Some of these items spread from site to site without being fact-checked, and that is why we ask for verifiable sources, in order to help correct the record.
Thinking back on those incredibly talented early 00’s Cardinal teams, just a few players come to mind that have stood the test of time in my rapidly aging mind. Two of them are shoe ins as Hall of Famers, but I think there is one more that really stands out besides Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina: Jim Edmonds.
As much as I love Scott Rolen as one of the best Cardinals third basemen ever, Scott could never match Jim Edmonds hitting, who was nearly as good as a defender. It was nice to have two of the best players ever on your team back in 2004 or so! But Edmonds stuck out because of the home runs from center field.
I’m not saying that Rolen shouldn’t have made the Hall of Fame; far from it. I think of Rolen as another favorite player, but much more of a stoic. He made elite defense look easy. I’m not a small hall guy. I find the Hall of Fame more on the Shame side of things, for a variety of reasons, but in the spirit of brevity: it has become oddly selective and biased. It always has been that way, but now the Hall has fought to keep up with the times. Whatever those sports authority HOF voters are up to, I’m not that impressed. I don’t really like the system of electing players to the Hall of Fame, but I also don’t have the answers. Is it that the system cannot keep up with the amount of new players and needs to be changed? Or should it be leaving players on the cusp out of the induction?
Voting will improve now that we are surrounded with new statcast technology that is integrated even into MLB’s website and the stadiums themselves, it’s become about as mainstream as it gets. It remains to be seen how the BBWAA will evaluate the balance of offensive and defensive value going forward, while comparing it to the past. Players like Nolan Arenado will certainly be compelling cases when the time comes.
Just for fun, I am going to compare Jim Edmonds to Scott Rolen via Fangraphs:
Scott Rolen
Right around 70 WAR career
Peak year 2004: 9 WAR, 159 wRC+
4 seasons of 4+ WAR
Over 300 HR, over 1200 RBI
Jim Edmonds
64.5 WAR
Peak year 2004: 8.3 WAR, 168 wRC+
10 seasons of 4+ WAR
Nearly 400 HR, 1 short of 1200 RBI
This is sort of an apples to oranges argument, where it appears that Rolen is a little better of a player, except that Jim runs away with the show with a lot more years at a more premium value. Add to that the fact that Scott Rolen derived more of his value through ridiculously elite defense, while Edmonds was the better hitter by career wRC+.
Maybe it comes down to longevity? Jim Edmonds played in 2011 games, while Scott Rolen played in 2038.
How about 6+ fWAR seasons? Rolen had 4, Edmonds had 6.
Perhaps the argument I’m making might be more to show that Arenado could make the Hall of Fame? I cannot see any reason why Jim Edmonds shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame if Scott Rolen is in. Center field is a premium position, but elite defense at third base is also extremely valuable. If you’re a small Hall guy, maybe neither is in.
Nolan Arenado has some work to do if he’s going to match either of these guy’s WAR totals. He’s just over 50 in total. He has more home runs than Rolen, so his home run total is fine. Arenado is well over 200 games away from 2,000 games. He will need a resurgence in the desert to reach that milestone.
Arenado does have 4 seasons of 6+ WAR though. That might end up being important. During Edmonds’ last five seasons or so, he was no longer himself, so maybe that left a bad taste in the BBWAA writer’s palettes… Arenado’s on-base percentage fell off a cliff after his big career year of 2022 (7.2 WAR), so what people might remember is him losing his abilities at the plate, while his elite defense dwindles. I hope he turns it around, but we no longer need to bank on it.
How about a homer happy comparison? Arenado has had three 40+ HR seasons and seven 30+. Rolen had no 40 home run seasons, and three 30+ seasons. Edmonds had two 40+ HR seasons and four 30+. So of the three, you’d have to argue peak Arenado was the best home run hitter. It’s now when the Coors effect of the Mile High City comes in, and I guess you could say that the three players are pretty similar overall, with Nolan Arenado lacking the longevity career-wise, so far.
It will be an interesting test for Nolan Arenado to play as many games as Scott Rolen, but maybe that’s a goal worth working towards. They are rather similar players in some ways.
If you go by the website Baseball Reference, Scott Rolen retains his WAR total but Edmonds falls behind. BR’s defensive evaluation of Edmonds doesn’t see Jim as valuable as fangraphs. So maybe both players are borderline cases? Maybe I’ll open another can of worms!
So what just happened: Andruw Jones has entered the conversation. He is now a Hall of Famer. How does he compare here? He is between Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen in career WAR total. He has 6! 6+ fWAR peak seasons. And nine 4+ WAR seasons! But Jim still has that beat with 10. The thing with Andruw Jones though, is that he doesn’t have a monster season, at least not like any of these Cardinal players have had. His wRC+ never peaked past 140, and he derives a lot of his value from defense. But! He had a 50+ home run season, and over 400 HR. He also played in more games than any of these guys. Even more of a power hitter.
In the end, maybe this whole time it was Andruw Jones playing alongside the career trek of Jim Edmonds, while being a little better defender and hitting even more home runs, which ultimately held back Edmonds from the Hall. When using Baseball Reference, Jones also falls back towards a 60 WAR total, but still higher than the Edmonds total. It’s so close though, that Edmonds seems to have gotten jobbed by the voting system, sort of falling through the cracks.
It seems like a good time to mention that ex-Cardinal Carlos Beltran has been inducted into the Hall of Fame! Mostly known for being one of the greatest postseason hitters of all time (and a certain scandal), Beltran certainly had a really damned good career. Beltran and Jones had rather similar WAR totals. Carlos had four 6+ fWAR seasons. Nine 4+ WAR seasons just like Andruw. But again, Edmonds with the ten four plus! It does seem like a snub. Can anyone explain the logistics of the system that lead to Jim not getting the recognition? Was it his annoying broadcasting career? I kid I kid!
One must wonder if Edmonds had played one more season to cross the 400 HR and 1200 RBI barrier, which he fell just short of. He could have used one more extra award, or something, anything, to put him over the top. He just played at a time with a ton of good baseball players. Jim Edmonds had a career OPS of .903! Jones was .823 with a much lower career batting average. They say the elite defenders make it look easy, but Jim Edmonds made it look fun. And his moonshot home runs were a thing to behold. He should be in.
The Bling
Edmonds was a 4 time all star, 8 gold gloves, 1 silver slugger
Rolen was a 7 time all star, also 8 gold gloves and 1 silver slugger
Beltran was a 9 time all star, 3 gold gloves, and 2 silver slugger awards
Jones was a 5 time all star with 10 gold gloves, a silver slugger, and he lead the league in HR and RBI in 2005
Arenado is a bit different by having an incredible amount of platinum gloves, he has the highest MVP career share rank of all 5 players here based on baseball reference, while being another 8 time all star like Edmonds and Rolen, obtaining 5 silver sluggers. So for a while there he was known as the player for top tier defense with a lot of offense thrown in, less of a longevity guy and more of peak guy and an accolades collector, at least so far
Arenado might be showing some wear and tear: he is 7th in at bats among active players. He will be close to #1 in that department in a couple years if he can stay on the field. If he retired today, he would be top 100 all time in slugging percentage with .507! Nolan is 100th all time in career home runs, currently.
One thing that will NOT put Arenado over the top is postseason numbers. He is 1-4 in postseason series with a .385 OPS. That one win was a Rockies win over the Cubs, at least! Andruw Jones on the other hand, went to a lot of postseason games and batted .796 OPS! However, Nolan Arenado does not know what it is like to lose two World Series like Andruw Jones.
Scott Rolen was in 7 postseason series with the Cardinals. He was a .678 OPS postseason hitter, but won most series he was in except the 2004 world series! Of course, he won the trophy in 2006, to make up for that. Rolen’s peak postseason heroics can be summed up in the 2004 NLCS vs Houston where he hit 3 home runs against them! Allowing the Cardinals to advance to the World Series.
Jim Edmonds postseason should be brought up more in regards to his case for the Hall of Fame. He played in 46 postseason games and accrued 263 postseason plate appearances. He hit 13 home runs during that timeframe at an .874 OPS clip! That’s a home run for every 20 or so PA! He was victorious in more postseason series than not, Edmonds best postseason performances being in 2000 vs Atlanta in the NLDS (1.886 OPS), 2002 vs the Giants in the NLCS (1.105 OPS), 7 RBI vs Houston in the 2004 NLCS, and 2005 vs the Padres in the NLDS (1.280 OPS). No wonder they called him Jimmy Baseball.
Like Edmonds and Rolen, Beltran is also 1-1 in World Series play. But to outdo Jim Edmonds really good postseason numbers, Beltran was just on a whole other level than most postseason players. A postseason OPS north of 1.000 is legendary. 1.021 to be exact. He won in 9 postseason series and lost in 6, so he was no stranger to the postseason with 65 games and 256 PA. About the same but not quite as many plate appearances as Edmonds, but in almost 20 more games over the years. Beltran had 16 postseason home runs which is more than Edmonds 13…. but, Jim did it in a lot less postseason games played. And get this: both Edmonds and Beltran have 42 RBI in the postseason. Maybe Edmonds really did get the Hall of Fame snub? He fell just short, or just fell through the cracks in the voting process.
As for Arenado, I think it only fair to remember that he hasn’t been on the right teams at the right time to amass postseason numbers like the other guys. His postseason performance so far could be attributed to small sample size nonsense. He has been stuck on teams that haven’t been nearly so successful.
Speaking of voting, I’m going to give StrawPoll a try! Vote accordingly, I hope the links work.
Today I am going to share with you the results of my last few posts, examining the best songs of 2025 through my own lists and a ton of other people’s year end lists, creating one big mega playlist and then narrowing it down to only 76 songs (just what it turned out to be, wanted to keep it at least under triple digits). I think I started out with 600 songs that I liked and then picked the best ones from that. There’s also a heavy metal version.
Also, I’m going to share with you a few choice cuts, songs that are making me happy at the moment. Which is not so easy to do in the middle of the winter. Sometimes I like dark and heavy, but sometimes I just want chill or downtempo lounge music of some form or other.
That wraps up my 2025 coverage. Thanks for checking it out or for just reading the baseball part. Pitchers and catchers report in less than a month! Just gotta get through the winter. Rock on.
The Orioles aren’t involved in any major rumors right now. Of course, that may change. The team doesn’t usually let much slip, so they could always make a splash out of absolutely nowhere. We shall see.
The big baseball news of the day surrounds the Hall of Fame, where another class of inductees has been announced. Did you know the announcement was coming? I certainly didn’t. As usual, MLB does next-to-nothing to reassert its place in the cultural consciousness. They announce season-end awards in a scattershot manner, long after any non-diehards care. Their draft is crammed in alongside the chaos of All-Star week. Free agency and offseason trades take four months to complete. And the Hall of Fame class gets announced on a seemingly random Tuesday in January, when most people aren’t really paying attention.
Maybe this is truly the best that MLB and baseball can do. As gets said regularly, baseball, more than other sports, is regional. Fans love their team, and probably know a lot about their division rivals, but anything outside of that is fuzzy. The piece meal approach to national broadcasts doesn’t help. In 2026, there will be exclusive games or events on each of FS1, TBS, ESPN, Apple TV, Peacock, and Netflix in addition to NBC and FOX. People just aren’t go to pay for all of those things. So it gets harder for any one player, outside of Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge, to be recognizable to casual fans. That will eventually trickle down to Hall of Fame voting, where seemingly anonymous faces will be getting honored one day. But that is a deeper conversation for another day.
The 2026 class of the Baseball Hall of Fame will be Jeff Kent, Carlos Beltrán, and Andruw Jones. Kent was elected last month by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee. Beltrán and Jones earned their way in the traditional way, garnering more than 75% of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
The players that finished behind Beltrán and Jones in the voting were Chase Utley (59.1%), Andy Pettitte (48.5%), Félix Hernández (46.1%), and Alex Rodriguez (40%). Two former Orioles earning votes were Francisco Rodríguez (50 votes, 11.8%) and Nick Markakis (1 vote, 0.2%). Because he did not reach the 5% threshold, Markakis will drop off of the ballot in 2027.
Voters have drawn a line of demarcation when it comes to cheating.
Steroids continue to be an issue for them. Pettitte and Rodriguez are yet to pass even 50% and seem unlikely to get anywhere close to 75%. Manny Ramírez got 38.8% of the vote in his 10th and final season of eligibility. And Ryan Braun, who had an incredible peak (MVP, five-time Silver Slugger, over 200 homers in six seasons), won’t even get a second season on the ballot.
But Beltrán, who is reported to have been a central figure of the Astros sign-stealing scandal in 2017, gets in after four years. You can argue that sign stealing has always been part of the game, the Astros were just putting a modern spin on it, but it was egregious enough that the entire sport was furious about it, for a little while anyway. The league fined the Astros, suspended coaches and managers for their role, and it cost Beltrán the Mets manager job at the time. Several years removed from it now, it feels like the sport has moved on entirely.
Links
Orioles Sign Hans Crouse To Minor League Deal | MLB Trade Rumors Unless the Orioles make big league additions to their bullpen, it feels like some random we have never heard of could make the Opening Day roster. Crouse could be the guy. He has big league experience, and was once a top pitching prospect. Let’s see if the Orioles’ pitching lab can work some magic with him between now and Opening Day.
Crouse latest depth signing, some spring training names and storylines | Roch Kubatko Roch touches on the state of the roster, which does not currently include a typical utility player. That may be intentional as the Orioles also still have Coby Mayo and Ryan Mountcastle. If they plan to carry both, they aren’t going to have room for a utility option.
Cardinals Showing Interest In Austin Hays | MLB Trade Rumors That would be a neat landing spot for Hays. The Cardinals are resetting a bit, but it’s a good baseball town and an organization that usually knows what they are doing. Maybe he could rebuild his career a bit.
Orioles birthdays
Is it your birthday? Happy birthday!
Keith Shepherd turns 58 today. He pitched in 13 games for the Orioles in 1996, his final season of MLB action.
Bob Reynolds turns 79. The righty was a steady part of the O’s bullpen from 1972 through ‘75, posting a 2.43 ERA over 196 total innings.
The late Johnny Oates (b. 1946, d. 2004) was born on this day. He appeared in two seasons with the Orioles (1970, ‘72) as a backup catcher, and then went on to bounce around the league for a decade. After his playing career ended, he went into coaching, which included a return to the Orioles organization. He rose from their Triple-A team in Rochester in 1988 to become the big league first base coach in 1989. After Frank Robinson was fired as Baltimore manager in 1991, Oates was promoted to the role, sticking around through the 1994 campaign. The team posthumously inducted him into their Hall of Fame in 2010.
This day in O’s history
January 21 has been a slow day in Orioles history, according to Baseball Reference. Maybe that will change today! Until then, here are some happenings from beyond Birdland:
1911 – The first Monte Carlo Rally takes place.
1954 – The first nuclear-powered submarine, dubbed USS Nautilus, is launched in Groton, Connecticut.
1976 – Commercial service of Concorde airliners begins with the London-Bahrain and Paris-Rio routes
1981 – Production of the DeLorean sports car begins in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.
At halftime on Monday at the MLK Day game, Harrison Barnes surprised the San Antonio MLK Commission with a $50,000 donation to their Scholarship Program – the single largest gift in the fund’s history. @spurs@FrostBankCenterpic.twitter.com/gUsN6Ei2dG
Established in 1986, the Commissionis a volunteer organization that helps assemble the annual MLK March. They host a variety of community events and programs encouraging awareness, acceptance, and appreciation of the teachings and philosophy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.
Barnes spoke briefly about the donation in his postgame presser.
Since joining the San Antonio Spurs, Harrison and Brittany Barnes have made multiple charitable donations. Early in 2025, they donated $250,000 to AlamoPROMISE.
During the holiday season, Barnes went into multiple H-E-B stores and paid patrons grocery bills for some while distributing gift cards to others.
Up I-35 in Austin, Barnes has supported the Play ATX initiative refurbishing basketball courts at community centers.
Barnes was brought into the Spurs offering a veteran and champion presence in the locker room. He continues to make an impact on the floor. What he and his family have done off the court makes a difference in the lives of many in the local community.
Welcome to the Thread. Join in the conversation, start your own discussion, and share your thoughts. This is the Spurs community, your Spurs community. Thanks for being here.
Our community guidelines apply which should remind everyone to be cool, avoid personal attacks, not to troll and to watch the language.
DETROIT — Jaylen Brown was asleep when the news first broke out: for the first time in his 10-year NBA career, he was selected as an All-Star starter.
Monday’s primetime game between the Celtics and the Pistons was hours away, and Brown was taking his usual midday nap. By the time he awoke, his phone was filled with congratulatory texts from family and friends.
“I think that’s who it matters most for — my support group,” Brown said. “I think it means a lot to them to see me celebrated in that light now.”
Asked Jaylen Brown about being named All-Star starter today:
“I woke up from a nap, and then I had some text messages from loved ones and family, but I think that's what it matters most for, like my support group. I think it means a lot to them to see me celebrated in that… pic.twitter.com/VbAihfC5MF
Among Eastern Conference players, Brown received the most votes from media members, the 3rd-most from NBA players, and the 5th-most from fans. That gave Brown the fifth-most votes among East players, edging out Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell for the final starter spot.
Next month in Los Angeles, he’ll represent the conference alongside Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, Philadelphia 76ers guard Tyrese Maxey, and Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham.
But Brown played down the personal significance of the accolade, noting he’s always felt he’s been this type of player.
“ I’ve always felt like, regardless of what people may think or whatever, that I’ve been one of the better players in this game,” he said. “Just now, I’ve got an opportunity to show it a little more.”
Jaylen Brown was ranked 1st among media, 3rd among players, and 5th among fans. pic.twitter.com/PHa5pyXcVA
Brown did not feel like being named an All-Star starter was validating.
“I’m a very confident guy,” Brown said. “I don’t allow other people to tell me what my validation is. I always felt like I was better than a lot of these guys.”
Jaylen Brown has benefited from a much greener light this season
This season, Brown has averaged 29.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 4.7 assists — while shooting 48.7% from the field, 36.3% from three, and 79.1% from the line.
He attributes some of his offensive improvements to having a much greener light than previous seasons of his career — particularly in the midrange, where Brown has been among the NBA’s most effective players.
“I was discouraged from taking midrange shots at different points in my career,” he said last week. “I’ve been literally told not to. Now it’s like ‘Jaylen, you can take whatever shot you want.’ I’m like, ‘sure.’ I’ve been shooting as many mid-ranges as I can get up. At different points in my career, that hasn’t been the case.”
Joe Mazzulla praised Brown for his leadership and improved ability to make reads this season.
“Really happy for him — it started in the offseason, just the way he approached it, the professionalism, the work ethic, the commitment to 1) getting healthy, to 2) coming in and setting the tone for the building and working with each guy separately,” Mazzulla said on Monday.
The Celtics are 26-16, good for the East’s second-best record. They also have the third-best net rating in the NBA.
And, Brown feels like they’re just getting started.
“I’ve enjoyed being with this group, I’ve enjoyed playing with the young guys, helping with their learning curve,” Brown said. “It’s been a joy. I’m looking forward to the next part of the season. We still have some work to do.”
A season for the Hawks that started with so much promise has quickly turned into a nightmare. I wrote last month that the season was close to being flushed down the drain for good if they didn’t improve on three key areas.
They didn’t improve on any of those three key areas.
Let’s list off all of the things that have gone horribly wrong this year:
Regardless of how you felt about Young, it was always going to be an extremely difficult pivot midseason when so many resources over so many years had gone into building around him.
One extra note: the centerpiece of the Young trade to Washington is now public enemy number one to the fanbase after his last second gaff and general ball dominance. So, even the pivot has been fruitless.
Kristaps Porzingis was confident preseason that his bout with post-viral syndrome/postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) was in the rearview mirror. It was not. Most recently, he’s been out nursing an injury to his Achilles. To date, Porzingis has only played 413 total minutes and 17 games out of a possible 45. The all-in gamble on his health came up bust.
Jalen Johnson’s growing list of deficiencies on defense have been magnified with the absence of Porzingis. Has the tradeoff between his offensive growth for defensive regression been worth it? That’s at least a valid question to ask for what this team needs.
As an undersized 5, Onyeka Okongwu had begun to play the 4 part of the time — especially when sharing the floor with Porzingis. The plan was to make him a flexible third big man, splitting his time between both frontcourt positions while coming off the bench to limit his minutes.
He’s a genuinely impactful defender now, but Zaccharie Risacher didn’t take the step forward offensively all of us had hoped. Not even close, in fact.
Dyson Daniels, now the team’s starting point guard who has admittedly come on offensively, hasn’t made a three since December 14.
With the exception of Nickeil Alexander-Walker, you can point to every one of the Hawks’ top eight or nine players and argue that their impact has been levels below what was expected of them.
*Sidenote: often teams prioritize one of those areas over the other, but you really shouldn’t be bad at both. Either send bodies to the glass or get back on defense. The Hawks, worryingly, do neither.
The heavy minutes load on Johnson, Daniels, Okongwu, and Alexander-Walker is clearly showing a major toll. They’ve been blown out at home more times than I can count, including a calamitous 43-point deficit at one point in a 26-point beatdown at the hands of the Boston Celtics last week.
Even the close games aren’t going their way. The team has been dreadful in clutch situations since the start of December.
The Hawks started the season 8-4 in clutch games (any game within 5 points with <5 mins remaining).
They've gone 1-8 since. They're the only team in the NBA with one (or fewer) clutch win since the start of December.
Finally, as of Tuesday afternoon, the team is just barely clinging onto 10th in the standings, with the 11th and 12th place Bucks and Hornets respectively vying for that final Play-In Tournament.
From visions of a top-four conference finish to out of the postseason entirely would be a humiliating end to a season of collapses.
The team is a mess, and any hopes of being the next Indiana Pacers are over.
The team was projected to win 46.5 games (per basketball-reference), and they’re on pace to win a full 10 games fewer than that (roughly 36.5). Yes, the Hawks still have 37 games remaining, the Eastern Conference isn’t exactly a juggernaut, and the schedule gets easier after the All-Star break, but it will be way too little too late.
I do think they’ll make the Play-In Tournament at least and have a puncher’s chance at entering the playoff bracket.
But for what? A sweep at the hands of the Detroit Pistons? Yawn.
So now where do they go? For me, here are the biggest areas to monitor going forward:
Finding a franchise center
The trade deadline is on the near horizon. I have to imagine the decision makers have been working the phones heavy in wake of the wildly disappointing performance of the team.
We’ve heard the Hawks linked to Giannis Antetokounmpo (who is now reportedly off the market), Anthony Davis (likely not happening with him nursing yet another injury), and other bigs who can fill in the huge physicality and rebounding gaps in the team.
This is almost certainly the end of the road for the persistently unavailable free-agent-to-be Kristaps Porzingis. I don’t foresee any team offering him a multi-year contract given his injury and illness recurrences — especially not the Hawks.
And Okongwu’s overburdening was discussed above — I still see him as a quality backup big on a friendly contract but nothing more.
Atlanta needs to find a dependable center who can anchor the defense, clear out space for rebounds, and provide a level a physicality the team needs (let’s just move past the fact that Atlanta had a real opportunity to do so two drafts ago).
Could they use their projected cap space this summer to sign Isaiah Hartenstein, likely the best center in the upcoming free agent market? That’s one thought. Or they could target someone else by trade.
But this, to me, is the most pressing issue given that the Hawks are headed for a ninth straight bottom half of the league finish in defensive rating.
Draft acquisitions
The one thing that has gone right has been the equally ugly collapse of the Milwaukee Bucks in addition to the (somewhat predictable) dreadful performance of the New Orleans Pelicans. More than halfway through the season, the best of both superpick acquired at the draft last year looks even better now than then.
It’s unlikely the Pelicans will finish with the worst record in the NBA given the many tanking teams just ahead of them and their own lack of incentive to tank. But all it takes is a few lucky ping pong bounces to possibly transform this franchise with a premium talent.
With the Cleveland Cavaliers also underperforming relative to preseason expectations, the pick swap they picked up through the De’Andre Hunter trade could land them a first-round pick in the teens.
It’s debatable that the Hawks focused a bit too much on youth over experience this past offseason, but with these two picks in a strong draft, it’s still a very viable avenue to add cheap — and possibly high-end — talent.
Assess whether Snyder is the right person for the job
Here is the elephant in the room.
Let me start by saying coaching in the NBA is an incredibly difficult job, and that so much of the position happens behind closed doors. You need to manage rich and famous NBA player egos, and navigate the politics of communicating with the media, one’s front office, and one’s ownership group.
Also, of course, comes the Xs and Os portion of the job. Implementing your system of basketball tactics and strategies — all that good stuff.
Putting a good product on the floor is clearly the most visible part of it all. And I’m not here to judge head coach Quin Snyder on anything but what the eyes can see.
One can argue this season’s roster isn’t fit to succeed (although bettors and oddsmakers certainly thought so preseason). One can are argue injuries have derailed the initial plan (although that hasn’t stopped the Celtics, Nuggets, and others from overcoming major injuries).
One can no longer argue that Snyder has elevated the individual play of players — as detailed above — or the team writ large.
Wins and losses are inarguable, and when a team’s record underwhelms relative to expectations, the coach tends to get the hook. This is just a universal truth throughout the history of the NBA.
Lloyd Pierce fell fate to that very scenario. Once the goalposts moved from player development to contention, his 14-20 record halfway through the 2020-21 season sealed his fate. Snyder’s 20-25 record to date looks eerily similar to Pierce’s record then and Nate McMillan’s 29-30 record in 2022-23 (although both previous coaches had some level of fallout in the locker room).
Maybe it’s best to wait until the end of the season for the higher ups to assess this situation. And if a different direction is desired, there will likely be a great availability of candidates to replace him in the offseason.
But a real, honest assessment needs to be made before tipping off next season lest we end up in the same place this time next year.
