You're tuned into Heat Check with Triste Quick. On this episode of the Heat Check, it's mid season grade time, baby, Part two. Time to go over the Western Conference. A lot of teams are gonna get grades that'll make their parents proud. Other ones may want to pretend like doll gated lots to cover Nick. So drop that generic ass fucking beat. So we've reached the halfway point of the season.
It's time to give out these mid semester grades. Last episode, which was on Monday night Tuesday for you, we covered the Eastern Conference, So now we do the West. So let's break it down division by division. My Portland Trailblazers in the Northwest Division have to go first. They were the first to come to mind. And you know what, after careful can consideration, the Portland Trailblazers, they get a C.
It's better than I wanted to give him. Honestly, uh, because of the moves right, the moves that they've made in the offseason. You can't really ask for much better than that. But they are underperforming in a big, big way. I love Jeremy Grant's fit on the team. I think he's probably a great third or fourth scoring option, best defender on the team most likely in terms of you know, point of attack, can guard you know, probably one through four,
two through five, kind of a thing. Gary Payton, the second has been injured, but now that he's back, he's been amazing defensively, very good on ball defender, kind of guy that's disruptive, kind of guy that just is exactly who Portland needs. Scrappy, hardworking, annoying, amazing fit for Damian Lillard, the Nirkdee boy. He's shooting a lot of threes. Shooting a lot of threes. Is three point percentage is way up. His three point volume is way up. Everything else has
been a little erratic, a little touch and go. Portland started out super hot, looked like they were number one in the West for maybe a week or so. They're in the plan right now, not even and I'm not even sure what they're gonna do to make a move. I don't know if they will make a move, but I think everyone expected that this is sort of a resetting year. You're getting Shade and Sharp back into the
mix as a rookie. He hasn't played games before this since you know, high school, was chilling in Kentucky just doing homework and watching and you know, there's a lot to be encouraged in. But you're not necessarily saying that this is a successful year either. Denver Nuggets, oh man, I'm not just saying this. They get Nay, I'm not just saying this because of the number one team in the West. But holy shit, are they just fun and
good Defensively? They're playing elite defense right now, especially in the games that they continue to keep focus. Aaron Gordon playing the best basketball of his entire career in his life. Guys like KCP Bruce Brown really good fits. Drafting Christian Brown aka Christian Brawn has been amazing. He's added to the versatility of this team. I like the development of Bones Highland. Add that to a healthy Jamal Murray. You add that to a healthy Michael Porter ju and your
healthy Ish is pretty much all You're gonna get. Andy Jokic, who's playing better basketball than he's played in years and gonna win the MVP for a third straight time. Nobody's done that since Larry Bird. Insane. Boy, are they a dangerous team. They could win it all if they could play some defense when Yokic is not on the floor. Utah, Utah is uh is something special. Boy, God damn does Danny Ainge know how to take a mess and turn
it into a bask yacht? Right? I mean he's like Jackson Pollock, just random spray pieces all over and you look up and you're like, oh my god, that's a vision. I think I love this Utah team. They are fun. I thought they were gonna stink. I thought that they were gonna just be right in the dumpster for Victor Wambin Yama. But man, they have a bunch of fun players.
They have a boatload of unprotected picks. They have thirteen lightly protected or unprotected draft picks that are first rounders just from the Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell trade combined alone, just alone, just from that. They also got Lori Marknen that I mentioned him, He's probably gonna win Most Improved Player of the Year. He is now the leader in the clubhouse for that. They have Walker Kestler, who, let's be honest, is probably gonna be better than Rudy Gobert.
He can do more things. Oh, you've got shared Vanderbilt nice piece versatil wise and you know that everybody that they're not gonna resign. All the old guys, all the guys that don't want to stay, they're gone. They're probably gonna end up flipping them for more pieces too. This team is good, This team in the future is bright. They're still in the play in picture. And they didn't even want to win. We didn't expect a goddamn thing from them. They get name minus. Minnesota gets an f
really because of the trade with Utah. Danny Ainge fleeces them, like you know, that's saying if you can't spot the mark in the room that is you, you are said mark. That's the Minnesota Timberwolves. They're the mark. They gave away so much for a one dimensional center, like so many picks, so many players. The fit with Cat is not good. Will it ever be good? I don't know. Probably not. They could go down as making one one of the worst trade decisions in not just NBA history, but sports history.
Minnesota they've got a bad record for bad trades, herschel Walker being one, remember that one like this is up there with the herschel Walker trade. But what's sadder than the actual trade itself is it's like a what could have been story? You know. They were fun, They were exciting. They had one of the best offenses in the league, up and down, talking trash, taking Memphis to the break.
Pat Bev was creating culture there. He loved Minnesota. Kat was terrible defensively but flourishing in terms of his scoring. It was just a team you could get behind. You could say, oh yeah, the future's bright for the squad. They add a couple more pieces. They have a bunch of.
Guys fun and all they got now is Rudy Gobah and a dry ass empty cupboard with just brown rice bagged up and maybe some cans of cannaloney beans.
That's it. No shade to Aunt Edwards. He's he's everything to them. But now you got this guy that you've replaced all these young players for a lumbering oath who all he does is clog up space for your superstar, make his life harder, not easier. This is a puzzling decision that Tim Connelly made so early in his tenure that it's going to be analyzed for years and years and years to come. This team had the possibility of locking up a top four, top six spot, and now
it looks like they're a playing team at best. Chris Finch probably gonna get fired, despite the fact that it is a success that they've gone six and four in their last ten. Just barely being five hundred is like taking him from the hot seat and putting him on the medium heat seat. Not good. By the way, someone commented on TikTok that if the Wolves had traded for Mitchell Robinson instead of Rudy Gobert, they'd probably be no
worse than the fourth in the West. Like that team, with all its pieces and all of its picks, probably would be better than the MAVs right now. Let's be honest, think about that. What a fucked up situation for the Minnesota Timberwolves. I feel bad from Minnesota fans. Man. They can't catch a break. Okay, see they're in the ninth spot right now, they get an a Oh my god.
Can you just tell when you watch basketball and watch these teams do their jobs, you know, not just the actual basketball, but the work that goes on behind the scenes. They're just some teams with smarter decision makers than others. And that is Sam Presty, that's him. He's a monster. He is just miles ahead of other teams. Not just when it comes to deal making, when it comes to
treating players well. Like you're hearing stories come out from guys who rehabilitated their careers there, like Al Horford saying that this is a first class organization. They treated me better than any place, and they didn't even intend to keep him right. Talent evaluation, incredible talent development, bringing on Chip England to help Josh Giddy shoot threes. He's playing at a level we have not seen from him before. He has a team everyone thought would be tanking in
the ninth spot. The Thunder have well exceeded expectations. They're one win away right now from hitting their win total, which was twenty three wins. They have twenty two wins at the halfway part mark of the NBA season. Anybody think that was gonna happen? Did you think Sam Presty was gonna shut it down? Shay has been insane. At one point, he was the leader to win Most Improved Player. He's going to be an All Star this year. He's
averaging thirty one, five and five. Josh Giddy is a bona fide star with court vision you could only hope to have in a player, not to mention. He can score and rebound and do all kinds of these things too. I love the fits of the two Jalen Williams that they got for nothing. They traded some random to move up in the draft, and now they get both Jalen Williams, one j dub one Jay Well, both good in their
own right. Chet holmerun mind you hasn't played one game this year, not one, been out with the list frank injury. This team is good. They are more importantly than good, super fun. The future's bright. Everything they've done in the offseason was good, excellent, elite, and they're a fun ass team where you can't really knock anything that's going on right now.