I love the dead time between trades. Players have already left for their new teams, but the players received in return aren’t cleared to play yet. It’s a perfect opportunity for lesser-used bench players to step up and show what they’ve got, because, depending on the nature of the trade, there will be a lineup hole that can’t be filled by anyone other than themselves.
That was the case for this Grizzlies game. Marc Gasol is gone, but Jonas Valanciunas’ paperwork is still going through, so it’s time for the Grizzlies’ backup center to show his stuff. That would be Joakim Noah, and he showed his stuff. All of it. Whether we wanted to see it or not, we saw Noah’s stuff.
Nineteen points is the most that Noah has scored since December of 2015. Basically, since his final All-Star season in 2013-14, Noah has been a non-factor in terms of scoring the ball, so that stat shouldn’t take you by surprise. I suppose some of the blame can fall on the shoulders of Julius Randle (known defensive sieve) and Anthony Davis (is probably a defensive sieve just so he doesn’t get injured), but we also have to credit Noah for looking to score rather than just looking to pass (or looking in the crowd trying to find somebody who looks like they would have a weed connection).
Future NBA fans might look back on this game as the swansong of Noah’s career. If it is, and you are a future person who is remembering what an interesting player Noah, first of all, DTB says hello to you from the past, and second of all, if humans have time travel in your era, please use it to undelete my original YouTube channel. Thanks.