Broomed

The Philadelphia 76ers, with vintage performances from Paul George and Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey making the right moves, completed a 1-3 comeback to eliminate the Boston Celtics in the first round.  We saw the emergence of rookie VJ Edgecombe, but they failed to maintain their momentum and got swept by the New York Knicks in the second round punctuated by a 30-point Game 4 humiliation.

Embiid, Philly’s 3rd overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, was the face of “The Process” era that never was.  Despite multiple leg injuries, he’s a 7-time All-Star, a league MVP awardee and a 2-time NBA scoring champion.  Yet, he’s stuck in basketball limbo.

The 76ers repeatedly failed to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals with losses to Atlanta, Toronto, Miami, Boston and now the embarrassing demolition from the Knicks, which was too much to “process” for Philly, especially with NYK fans taking over the Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.

With the team continuously hitting a solid barrier during the playoffs, trade talks are again in the air.   Philadelphia could explore their options, but it won’t be easy.   Last September 2024, Embiid signed a huge 3-year, $193 million contract.    It would be risky for teams investing in a 32-year superstar center with a lengthy history of injuries.   Well, who knows?   The case of Anthony Davis, who’s now in his fourth NBA team, is an example.

If the series between the Pistons and the Cavaliers goes the 7-game distance, New York will have additional days of rest and be fresh for the battle-weary winner of the DET-CLE series.

OKC started 7-0 in the playoffs, sweeping the Phoenix Suns in the first round and is holding a 3-0 series lead over the LA Lakers in the semis.   Yes, the Lakers found a way to limit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but the Thunder had presented offensive sources from almost everyone.   With the way the early stages of Game 4 are going, it looks like OKC will show the Lakers the broom, or maybe just be generous and give them a win.

Which also leads to the question, will LeBron James stay for another season?    At 41, LeBron undoubtedly is LAL’s best player in the series, showing to doubters that despite high fuel prices, always has a full tank and hasn’t sputtered, yet.

This could be the end of the LeBron era in Hollywood with no extension agreed on his $52.6 million expiring contract, considering the reported rift with Laker governor Jeannie Buss.   A very ideal scenario would have the Lakers opting out of that deal to free cap space and acquire two high quality players to surround Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.   Only then can we say that the Lakers can contend with the best in the league.

Meanwhile Laker Nation, pahuway una ta.