NBA Team of the Week (Jan. 29 - Feb. 4)
First of all, congratulations to the Eagles for winning the Super Bowl!
We've got ourselves a trade! Blake Griffin being traded to Detroit has been the hottest news of the week. Clippers are supposedly clearing their cap space to sign a big fish in the next free agency market, by losing Griffin's lucrative contract.
On the other hand, Detroit are trying to make a team to win it now - shaking things up after losing eight straight games! It's often said that the team getting the best player in a trade often wins the trade itself, which is Detroit for now. But if the Clippers are actually able to attract any big fish in the next free agency, let alone LeBron James, then they would feel that they have ultimately won. With the deadline coming soon, we can expect more trades to take place in the coming week.
In the All-Star Game section of the news, there are three replacements for the All-Star Game now through respective injuries - Paul George replacing DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond replacing John Wall and Goran Dragic in place of Kevin Love, all of whom are in LeBron's team.
Now to important results in the week. Boston Celtics won three straight games without Kyrie Irving, LeBron's chances of leaving Cleveland are growing day-by-day while the Golden State Warriors lost to the Denver Nuggets after being surprisingly beaten by the Utah Jazz. Right now, it appears the Houston Rockets are the best team to challenge them - while the Nuggets beat both the aforementioned GSW and Oklahoma City Thunder before close defeats to Boston and San Antonio.
Amidst all the drama, there are a few players who stood out for their respective sides. Let's count down our team of the week:
6th Man - Fred VanVleet
Team Record: 3-0
Player Stats in the Week: 13 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 3.3 apg on 48% shooting, 36% from threes, +14 bpm, +30.8 net rating, 14.6 player impact estimate
This week, there were no strong contenders for the 6th man, so we went with the most clinical player. After having his career high last week, this week he followed it with three strong performances.
With the improving production from the bench, it is now safe to say that the Toronto Raptors have one of the league's better benches.
Other contenders for this position this week:
Jordan Clarkson (2-1, 16.3 ppg on 40% shooting, 50% from threes)
Gerald Green (3-0, 14.3 ppg on 36% shooting, 32% from threes and a huge block on King James)