https://youtu.be/FHrEIdwvweo
Be honest: how many of you, before this video appeared in your YouTube feed, could’ve named the team that Raul Neto was playing for? Note: actual fans of Neto, if any exist, don’t count for the purposes of this exercise. There’s no shame in not realizing that he actually was still in the NBA despite being a very marginal third-string-type PG for over half a decade now. Personally, I would’ve gone with either “Olymipikiaosiosiou” or “Besitkitikikas”. All I knew for sure was that he wasn’t on the Sixers anymore. Did the Jazz not want him back or something? He was like the personification of Jazz basketball for a good stretch there.
That’s the problem with the ultra-condensed free-agency period that was saw this offseason. There was just too much happening, and too little time to internalize all the moves that were made. I have totally (alright, I’m exaggerating, more like “partially”) lost track of which scrubs are on which teams, something I never thought would happen. And never mind the draft. HOO BOY, I don’t think I can name even one rookie right now besides Sam Merrill.
So I don’t blame anyone for not realizing that Neto is backing up Russell Westbrook (I also don’t blame you for not realizing Westbrook is on the ‘Zards now) and Ish Smith in Washington. There are a lot more important acquisitions out there that it is more urgent to become acquainted with.
But now the league is ON NOTICE. Because Neto is still around, he’s not in Europe, and when you start him, he can put up MONSTER numbers. Watch out, the other 29 teams. You think you might be able to handle a midget backup from Brazil, but you can’t. You just can’t. Especially if your team happens to have Markelle Fultz on it.
Fultz did a lot of cooking in this game, to the tune of a career-high 26 points, but did it really matter when Neto cooked him just as bad to the tune of a career-high 22? Ignore the fact that the ‘Zards actually lost this game largely because Neto was getting murked so bad by Fultz at the end. That’s not the point of this. The point is this: there’s no way Neto should’ve been able to do the stuff he was doing, but there he was, doing it. The evidence of the cookage is presented here for your consideration, and while you view it, ponder the question “who even needs Russell Westbrook?”.