In Their Bag

Golden State Warriors

Over the course of the season thus far they haven’t been a team to be afraid of. The only player you really had to worry about was Steph Curry; if you can limit him from scoring, you would have a great chance at winning the game. However, the Golden State Warriors are finally starting to find their stride. Over the past month, they’ve won 11 of their 15 games, tied with the second-best record in the league. A big part of the success is because Jimmy Butler is beginning to look more and more like that Robin we saw last year, to Steph’s Batman. He’s starting to be more aggressive in looking for his shot and not being as passive. This has forced the defense to deal with more threats on that side of the ball. As a result of this, in those 15 games, the Warriors have the third-best offense in the league with an offensive rating of 120.3. In addition, Jonathan Kuminga recently requested a trade from the Warriors after not getting any minutes in the past 18 of 19 games. If the Warriors trade Jonathan Kuminga, they should look for a big man to solidify their front court. If they’re able to accomplish that, the Warriors might be able to make some noise once the playoffs roll around.

Bag Lookin’ Shallow

Houston Rockets

The Rockets have been slipping over the past month. In their past 20 games, they have a record of 10-10. They don’t have any consistency, and a big reason for that is because they don’t have a reliable floor general. As great as Amen Thompson is, he’s not the guy you want running your offense, especially in those close, stressful games. And that’s not a knock on Thompson. Amen shouldn’t even need to be in this position right now; he’s not a natural point guard.

Over the past 15 games, the Rockets have the third-worst assist percentage in the NBA, with only 56% of their shots being assisted. That means a lot of isolation, and that’s not a recipe for success, especially in the playoffs. It’s why the James Harden-led Rockets were never able to make the Finals despite always having one of the best records in the league with one of the league’s top offenses. The Rockets have to prioritize getting a point guard who can run the offense at the trade deadline. Otherwise, their playoff struggles will continue this year.

No Bag

Los Angeles Lakers

The Lakers’ defense is absolutely horrendous; their three best players, Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James, are turnstiles on defense. Their rim protector, Deandre Ayton, who averages 30 minutes only has 1 block a night, and he actually leads the Lakers in blocks per game. The only way the Lakers are going to build a contender around Luka is by having great defenders around him to make up for his horrible defense. That’s how the Mavericks made the Finals 2 years ago. They surrounded Luka with elite defenders like PJ Washington and Derrick Jones Jr., then they had two fantastic shot blockers in Daniel Gafford and Derick Lively II. Having said all that, the Lakers are probably not going to make any big moves to acquire some elite defenders. This is because they have a 41-year-old Lebron James with bad defense taking up 34% of their salary cap. The Lakers are most likely going to hold off on any moves this year and wait for Lebron to become a free agent, then go all-in on building a contender around Luka.