Wes Goldberg
Appearances
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And there should be a rule. I don't know what it is. I'm usually anti rules, but can we stop voting these guys? Right. That are top five picks like, oh, wow, it's crazy that this guy got good. Right. You know, I've seen it labeled as like the MVP Junior Award. It shouldn't be that, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And as soon as John Morant mailed his most improved award to Desmond Bain, we should have realized in that moment, oh, we're doing this all wrong. So I don't even ever really consider a top 10 pick unless it's like a weird...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
like a case where the guy never looked like a top 10 pick and then all of a sudden did but I just yeah if you're one of the top players in the draft you're the whole thing was that you're supposed to get better and be good so I don't I don't think John Moran should have ever won it and I certainly don't think Cade should win it it's nothing to do with Cade or and Evan Mobley like another guy who would have a case but I'm like dude these guys are good they're supposed to be good I'm not voting for them it kind of goes against the spirit of the award
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
We kind of know the teams that should be in the playoffs. But in this case, this is pretty interesting. My only fix to the play-in would be like, do we really need the 9-10 teams in here? Maybe just one game for the seven, eight seeds to figure it out, battle it out and then go that way. But in general, yeah, I think the play in is fine. It works.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
I do. I think about like a guy like Avicii Zubac, who has, it's been steady improvement his entire career, but has legitimately been one of the best five centers in the league this year. I mean, it is, he's an elite center. I think he's been awesome. I think Austin Reeves has also taken a leap. I think we have, you can't ignore that. Christian Brown,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
In Denver, Dyson Daniels with what he's doing in Atlanta, even though you could argue, is that an opportunity thing or is that really an improvement? I can go either way on that. Ty Jerome, Peyton Pritchard. I mean, there's such a bunch of Aaron Wiggins, like these guys off the bench that are just doing really important stuff for really good teams.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
The guy that I go back to, though, and this might be my Miami Homerism talking here, Dave, but I can't help but think that Tyler Hero deserves real recognition for this award. This is a guy who, when I think about most improved, right? Like, I don't... We already discussed the top five guys that are supposed to be good. I also want to see a guy who...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
legitimately improved in, in different parts of his game, certain skills, but also maybe change the way that he plays. I think that's maybe the hardest improvement to do, especially if you're somebody like Tyler hero, who six years into his career has a six man of the year award has been a part of two finals teams has been a 20 point per game score twice going into this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
made a hundred million dollar contract, earned a hundred million dollar contract. Guys in that position don't usually say, you know what? I'm going to change everything about what I'm doing. I'm going to just completely change it all. And he went into the lab this off season and said everything that he had been doing to this point wasn't good enough anymore.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And he looked at his shot chart and he looked at all the things that he was trying to work on and his skill development and his physical development. And he just, he scratched all of it. And he said, I'm going to do it all different. And he looked at Steph Curry's shot chart and he's like, I want to get as close to that as possible.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And then he did like all the mid range jumpers that he would dribble a air ball that he would dribble the air out of the ball and dribble into those are gone. You know, he started taking way more threes. The off ball movement has been huge physically. He's much more improved. It's the first time he's ever played 70 games in a season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
this year since his rookie year I mean he's gotten more durable like you think about all the things that he could have improved upon and that he were asking him to improve upon and he just checked every single box and then he became a first-time All-Star so he was rewarded with it with the individual accolades as well I think it's so hard for a player again who is a first round pick made the money did all that stuff to just walk into year six and be like
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
I'm going to it's not good enough. I'm going to change all of it. I'm going to change my mindset. I think that's so hard and underappreciated that when I look at most improved, I don't know that anybody has improved from where they were to where they are now as much as Tyler Hero has.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And we're in for a really exciting finish here because I don't like you said, this is madness. I don't remember the last time the standings were just like this bananas with four or five games left in the season. And it's every single day. It's standings watching in the Western Conference now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Yeah, I might go Zubach here and that I don't have a great reason other than he's been awesome. And I love watching that guy play. And he's just I'm going to put him on every single ballot. He'll be on my defensive player of the year ballot. I love the season that he's been putting together. So off the top of my head, I go Zubach.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Well, my first thought is Warriors Lakers, just because of their aging stars, don't play as many games, especially when you think about the Warriors. They've got Jimmy Butler. Jimmy Butler got injured in the playing tournament last year when he was playing for the Miami Heat and then wasn't available for them in the first round against Boston. So age, whatever.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
But then I'm like, well, anybody can get injured. It's, you know, stuff happens all the time. I'm looking at the Clippers, Dave. I'm really looking at the Clippers here. They have not beaten the Thunder or the Rockets this season. So if they're in the play-in and they make it out of the play-in, well, they're going to have to probably play one of the Rockets or the Thunder in that first round.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And like I said, they haven't beaten those guys yet. Now, they do play Houston on Wednesday night. Maybe that's something that could be informational for us. But they're a team that actually has...
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
some pretty good matchup stuff depending on where they might end up in the bracket like they have beaten golden state right they uh they match up really well with denver so if they end up in a first round series against those teams they probably feel a lot better about their chances against them than they would against a couple of teams that they have yet to beat all season long so i look at the clippers as the team that really needs to avoid the play-in probably more than any of these other teams
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Not to say the regular season is everything, but yeah, those matchups are tough for them, right?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Yeah, that's a team that feels like they might not even make it out of the play. And I just saw John Morant in Miami hit a game winner to win the game for the Grizzlies the other night. So I'm not going to doubt John Morant. And we've seen what he could do in the playoffs before. I mean, that guy is a playoff gamer.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
We don't really talk about him in that sort of tier of player, but he's been basically his whole career. Jaron Jackson Jr. has been phenomenal this year, especially like we know what he does defensively. Offensively, he's taken a leap on that end. I always think that we've thought of Memphis as a deep team.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And then you kind of look at the roster this year and you're like, I don't, how deep is this team? You know, like they're relying on two rookies in that starting lineup. There's guys that I like coming off the bench, but this team is really reliant on Desmond Bain making threes. Um,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
they're a team that if just one thing kind of goes wrong in the game, especially with the new coaching there, it feels like can kind of go sideways for them early in the game. So yeah, I'm, it feels like Memphis is one of these teams that could lose a game that maybe you don't even expect them to lose in the plant tournament.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
I think I do just because Jokic, you know, at the risk of oversimplifying stuff. But he's just obviously a guy who could take over any game and diagnose that matchup and do it. We've seen him go off for 61 points when they've needed him to do it. So if it's a do-or-die situation, I just trust him to do that. But... Yeah, avoiding the play-in for them, too, would be really important.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Making it out of the play-in. I mean, this is just a team that's been dealing with injuries all year. We know the Jamal Murray thing, like you already mentioned. Aaron Gordon has been in and out of the lineup with injuries all year. It seems like that still might be affecting him a little bit here. And then even with Jokic, the guy's playing so many minutes this year.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
You know, if you could avoid the play-in and just save him a week, doesn't that feel like, of all the players in the playoffs, Jokic might be the guy that needs a week off the most, considering what this season has been for this guy?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Give them the week off. Like if you're Denver, they're also a team that kind of uses momentum a lot, which is kind of weird for like a veteran team. But when they've got when they are able to string together a couple of wins, that usually leads to another couple of wins for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
So if they're playing and peaking at the right time, even though they've lost a few games in a row here, if they can kind of close out this last week strong, that probably sets up well for them.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
That's kind of where I'm at, just because even if they do make it out of the play-in, it just feels like they would be dead in the water in a first round. It's just a tough matchup for them, and they've proven that in the regular season.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
But then on the flip side, if they can get into that 4-5 range, well, now all of a sudden you're looking at a matchup that could be beneficial for them, and now maybe we're talking about a team that could... make it out of the first round of the Western Conference. And then once you're there and you see how the bracket works, who knows?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Maybe that's a team that can make it all the way to the conference finals. And Kawhi Leonard's been playing like that guy. James Harden, we know his playoff words, but he's not that guy anymore for this team as long as Kawhi is healthy. And then obviously you save a week and you mitigate the risk of Kawhi aggravating something in another week there too.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
So yeah, my answer is the Clippers, probably just because it feels like... It could either be over before it even begins, or this is a team that we could be looking in a month from now or a couple months from now and be like, wow, that team made a run to the Western Conference Finals that we didn't expect.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
I'm not. And that's not even a thing against Draymond. I think he's been sensational and he's had really big games and really big moments in on like a national stage, right? We, what he did against the honest a couple of weeks ago was just classic Draymond green defensive masterclass. He had those stops against the Lakers a couple of nights ago that were huge, obviously down the stretch.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And he's awesome. Like Draymond green is awesome. And the fact that he only has one defensive player of the year award for his career is It's kind of a crime. So if he were to get it again this year, I wouldn't be upset about it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
But I also don't think that he was wire to wire to the best defender in the league this season, despite everything that he's been saying and the campaign that he's had the best campaign out of anybody in terms of just being out there. I agree. But yeah, I don't think he's been the best defender wire to wire.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
So I'm between two guys, but before I tell you who it is, can we talk a little bit about Ahmed Thompson making a late push for this thing? I would love to talk about it.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
What he did against Steph Curry and the Warriors on Sunday night, it has me at least rethinking my whole defensive player of the year thing. And then I look at the different sports books this morning, Dave, and he's not even listed on these things in terms of odds. And I'm like, look, I don't know if he would be my favorite. He's probably not right now.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
but he would, he would be on my ballot and did not even have him mentioned in this conversation. I mean, Shady Eldridge's Alexander has better odds than Ahmed Thompson does. That seems weird. So he's one of those guys who, when I think about defensive player of the year,
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Not only am I looking at who's getting stops and who's important to their defense, but who's making those game-changing defensive plays? Who's swinging the momentum and changing the entire tenor of the whole matchup just with what they do on the defensive end? And I don't know that there's... I mean... I don't.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Is there anybody better than Ahmed Thompson on that end when when he's sort of just totally dialed in and engaged in terms of just making those huge kind of game swinging type of plays on the defensive end? I think he at least has to be in the conversation.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Yeah, it's just weird that we're not even having him in the conversation. I mean, he guarded Steph on Sunday night. He guards Shea Gilgis-Alexander in Houston's win over Oklahoma City. And then a couple weeks ago, he's guarding Luka and holds him to one for six shooting, right? It's just... There are moments for him, but to your point, it's very similar to the Draymond Green case a little bit.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
I just wanted to throw him in there. But to answer your question, I'm either... I'm between Lou Dort and Evan Mobley at this point. And now you kind of get back to that classic, well, am I going to go with the perimeter guy or am I going to go with the big? And... I will make the case for Lou Dort because the one thing I hear, Evan Mobley, he's awesome. Cleveland's defense has been really good.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
But with Lou Dort, I keep hearing this pushback of, well, he's surrounded with a lot of really good defenders in Oklahoma City. And that's true. Like, no doubt about it. I kind of think... the whole thing falls apart without Lou Dort a little bit. Like it's not to say that there would be a bad defense, but they wouldn't be elite.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
Like just this absolute, you know, razor of a, of a defense that just is carrying them to wins. It's almost 70 wins in a season. They'd probably be still top 10, but I don't think they would be this dominant on this end. If not for Lou Dort, he's always the guy taking the most difficult assignment. He's kind of the, the, the anchor of that defense and everybody else kind of
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
So when it first was introduced, I was anti-playing because I mostly don't like new things and things that generally add more stuff to an already packed NBA schedule. And then I really liked the play-in because it ended up being really exciting. And then I'm looking at the Eastern Conference this year. I'm like, are we sure we need to play in here?
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
does stuff around him, but every single night he's bringing it. And I just think about two things. Who's had the best wire to wire defensive season. I think Lou Dort started the year just already looking like an all defensive guy. And he's finished the year looking at it. He's not had any lulls or any dips.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
I can't think of a time where I watched the thunder game and I was like, not an awesome game for Dort defensively on this end. The guy just doesn't screw up. He's awesome and he's super important. And he's also really important to all the stuff they do with the deflections and all that kind of stuff. He's so integral into everything that Mark Dagnon is doing there.
The Athletic NBA Daily
Western Conference playoff race + Most Improved Player award
And then the other thing is when you talk to players around the league, you ask them, who's the one guy you don't want defending you? They all say Lou Dort. They all say Lou Dort.