Twelve NBA teams have already taken their places in this year’s playoff field, but another 10 have made the trip to the Orlando bubble of the championship with the hope of making their way to the four points that have not been occupied. Some of these offers have more possibilities than others; for example, our prediction model believes that Dallas Mavericks and Orlando Magic actually have zero chance of losing the playoffs, regardless of how the reboot proceeds. For the other eight teams, however, there are at least some some participate in the prelude to the postseason, even if they are mostly in the running.
With that in mind, we highlight the players of those eight clubs – the Brooklyn nets, Memphis Grizzlies, New Orleans Pelicans, Phoenix Suns, Portland Trail Blazer, Sacramento Kings, San Antonio Spurs and Washington Wizards – who rate the highest this season. based on our RAPTOR Player Rankings and who could have the biggest impact on the pre-playoff bubble action.
Damian Lillard
PG, Portland trail jackets
RAPTOR plus / minus: +5.9 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: 12 percent
Will restarting Dame Time? RAPTOR thinks that Lillard is the best player among all the promising playoffs, after yet another exceptional season that saw him in sixth place among all NBA players in RAPTOR wins instead of the replacement (WAR). Despite maintaining a 30 percent north utilization rate, Lillard also established a new career with a real pull percentage – 61.9 percent – thanks in large part to its sleek 2-point conversion rates (51.8 percent ) and 3 points (39.4 percent) range. Add a career-better assistance rate of 34.1 percent and Dame is an incredible offensive machine, although RAPTOR considers her defense (-2.0 points / 100) subpart. Lillard was practically trained due to a foot injury, but reports indicate that he should be ready when the real games come off – essential news for a Portland team with an offensive mentality that is trying to make its way in the postseason.
Other blazers to look at: C Hassan Whiteside (+3.2 RAPTOR); SG CJ McCollum (+1.4)
Jrue Holiday
SG, New Orleans pelicans
RAPTOR plus / minus: +4.8 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: 45 percent
What, did you expect Sion Williamson here? It is true that Zion has been a revelation for pelicans since its debut on January 22nd, with a RAPTOR of +2.4 points / 100 in 19 games. But the beginner may not hit the ground running on reboot; he hasn’t trained with his team in the past few weeks due to a family emergency (although he has now eliminated the quarantine in the bubble). And also, Holiday was better according to RAPTOR, with a score of +4.8 per 100. It may be surprising, but Holiday has rated better than +4.0 per 100 in each of the past three seasons, making him one of the most underrated players two-way in the championship. Only four players this season – Giannis Antetokounmpo, Anthony Davis, Kawhi Leonard and Holiday – have an offensive and defensive RAPTOR score of at least +2.0 points / 100. And this could actually underestimate the breadth of Holiday’s contributions, including the his mix of efficient shots from the pitch, low turnover direction and destructive defense of the perimeter. Without a doubt, the Pels need Williamson at his best to end the playoff party, but they also need Holiday to keep his quiet mark of excellence in the round for a chance.
Other pelicans to watch: Derrick favors (+3.4 RAPTOR); PF Zion Williamson (+2.4); F Brandon Ingram (+1.1)
Patty Mills
PG, San Antonio Spurs
RAPTOR plus / minus: +3.5 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: <1 percent
Mills doesn’t even leave for San Antonio – in 63 games, his lone appearance in the initial lineup came in late November. But he still managed to make his presence felt this season, driving San Antonio in RAPTOR WAR (4.6) despite being off the bench. Mills has long been an unknown player for the Spurs, dating back to their Dynasty days. But at 31, the creaking veteran still scores a lot (18.5 points / 36 minutes), knocking down almost 150 3 pointers this year (with a 38 percent clip) without almost never giving the ball away (turnover rate of 7 , 6 percent). The Spurs have little chance of making the playoffs, making four games out of seed no. 8 of the West with four teams ahead of them and the great man LaMarcus Aldridge who paid for the year. But they are a much better team with Mills on the pitch, proof of his value even in a negative year for the crew of coach Gregg Popovich.
Other spurs to watch: C Jakob Poeltl (+3.3 RAPTOR); SG Derrick White (+2.6); SF DeMar DeRozan (+0.1)
Jonas Valančiūnas
C, Memphis Grizzlies
RAPTOR plus / minus: +2.7 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: 34 percent
Guard Ja Morant had a good debut season (1.8 WAR) and it is extremely likely that he will win the honors of Rookie of the Year, but the choice n. 2 in last year’s draft was not the choice of RAPTOR as the best Grizzly of 2019-20. This distinction goes to Valančiūnas, who is enjoying an exceptional year in his second season with Memphis, recording a +2.7 career RAPTOR (including a +2.2 sign in defense). Valančiūnas has been at his maximum efficiency throughout the season, finishing in 12th place in the league with an effective percentage of goals on the pitch, averaging 14.9 points and 11.2 rebounds per game and playing hard D According to Basketball-Reference.com, Memphis’s defense allowed 109.2 points / 100 with Valančiūnas on the field, 3.0 points / 100 less than when he sat down – a big part of why Memphis is also here. (His defense is exactly average, while his offense was 1 point / 100 worse than the championship norm.) Valančiūnas looked good in warm-up games, so be careful to play more efficiently if the Grizz is about to hang on the eighth seed in the west.
Other Grizzlies to Watch: PG De’Anthony Melton (+2.5 RAPTOR); C Gorgui Dieng (+2.3); PF Brandon Clarke (+1.2); PG Ja Morant (-0.8)
Jarrett Allen
C, Brooklyn nets
RAPTOR plus / minus: +1.9 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: 95 percent
The nets were absolutely devastated by injuries, opt-outs and COVID-19 diagnoses, costing them Kyrie Irving, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, Taurean Prince and Wilson Chandler, among others. However, Brooklyn has a couple of solid RAPTOR-ranked starters left in Allen (+1.9) and oversees Caris LeVert (+1.3), as well as a six-game buffer to work with over the Washington Wizards # 9 to avoid being in danger of losing the playoffs. 22-year-old Allen has been one of the most improved players in the NBA this season, after a terrible -4.3 RAPTOR in the regular 2018-19 season to post a score of 6.2 points / 100 better this year. The improvement came mainly on defense, where Allen went from -2.8 to +2.5 points / 100, with much better numbers in our player tracking measures such as defense of the shot and opponent matchup performance. Allen’s offense is still negative (-0.6 points / 100), but has improved his percentage of real shot, the turnover rate, the offensive rebound rate and the fouls suffered every 100 shots this season. Along with LeVert’s scoring and passing skills and Joe Harris’ forward shot, Allen leaves the nets with at least some productive options in the forward bubble.
Other networks to watch: SG Caris LeVert (+1.3 RAPTOR); SF Joe Harris (-0.5)
Ricky Rubio
PG, Phoenix Suns
RAPTOR plus / minus: +1.8 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: <1 percent
The Suns have a good starter cast, so some of them may make a case like the Phoenix player to watch. But the team’s best RAPTOR score (+1.8) belongs to Rubio, whose arrival via free agency last summer helped the suns to improve enough to be in this position too. With Rubio on the field, the suns score 6.7 points more / 100 than when he sits, and allow 3.3 points less / 100 – which means that Phoenix’s overall performance is around 10 points / 100 better when Rubio is at stake. Because? Rubio has a great chemistry with his teammates Devin Booker and Kelly Oubre Jr. – two strong scorers – because he is a good facilitator, he leads the team in the percentage of assistance (39.9 percent) and his ability to draw fouls. makes an efficient fallback option in attack. Defensively, Rubio’s RAPTOR has slipped a little this year (from +1.2 in the last regular season to +0.1 points / 100), but still ranks among the leaders of the league for the theft rate (2.3 percent ), along one of the “hidden” ways of Rubio’s value surpasses his reputation.
Other suns to watch: SF Mikal Bridges (+1.7 RAPTOR); SG Devin Booker (+1.0); C Deandre Ayton (+0.8); SF Kelly Oubre Jr. – if healthy (0.6)
Richaun Holmes
C, Sacramento Kings
RAPTOR plus / minus: +1.5 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: 9 percent
Holmes isn’t exactly a household name, but upon reboot, he will lead a crop of six kings who have played at least 1,000 minutes with a positive RAPTOR this season. Holmes had spent the previous four years of his NBA career carving out a niche like a big guy who blocked shots with good finishing skills around the edge, but this year he improved his score from -1.3 to +1.5 points / 100. – a huge improvement. The supply was a true percentage of the best career shots (best fifth in the league) and a slightly expanded shooting range, as well as improved defensive numbers in terms of both the RAPTOR player tracking and tracking categories. Before the season was over, Holmes had just returned from an injury that had put him aside from early January to March; now it should be one of the best kept secrets of the pursuit of the playoffs, even if its kings collide with long chances of seizing the seed n. 8 and extend their season.
Other kings to watch: PF Nemanja Bjelica (+0.8 RAPTOR); PG De’Aaron Fox (+0.6); SG Bogdan Bogdanovic (+0.3); SG Buddy Loved (+0.2)
Isaac Bonga
SF, Washington Wizards
RAPTOR plus / minus: +1.2 points / 100 possessions
Team playoff odds: 5 percent
With high-scoring guard Bradley Beal (+1.5 RAPTOR) sitting with a shoulder injury and efficient attacker Dāvis Bertāns (+2.4) coming out of the bubble, the Wizards are running out with players decently rated for reboot. According to RAPTOR, their only above-average guys left are the center Moritz Wagner (+0.6), who has only recorded 707 minutes this season, and Bonga (+1.2), who could prove Washington’s MVP under the radar if manages to overcome the nets or the magic to make the playoffs. Bonga does not produce large numbers; he’s averaging just 4.6 points per game this season. But he’s efficient with the chances he gets – producing 121.4 points per 100 goods that he ends personally – and he was stellar when he gets three corner corners, which he has gone 11 out of 23 on this season. In defense, Bonga wreaks havoc with both thefts and blockades, and wizards play more like a competent NBA defense with him on the pitch, a huge advantage for the league’s worst defensive team.
Other wizards to watch: C Moritz Wagner (+0.6 RAPTOR); PG Shabazz Napier (-0.1); C Ian Mahinmi (-0.1)
