I understand that the Pacers acquired Wes Matthews because they needed a Victor Oladipo replacement. I fully understand that. He gives you like 40% of what Oladipo could, but he’s inexpensive and was good enough once upon a time that fans would approve of the signing.
But put yourself in my shoes. Look at the transaction through the lens of an NBA highlight creator on YouTube. Wes Matthews is not a popular player right now. He had worn out his welcome in Dallas, partially because he was an overpaid consolation free-agent after Cubes struck out on everybody else, which means that there’s nobody who really cares to watch Wes Matthews highlight videos.
Compounding the problem, the Indiana Pacers are a team that nobody wants to watch highlights of. They appreciate the high level of teamwork that happens to enable the continued success of a franchise that lost its superstar for the season, but that doesn’t mean they want to watch videos of said teamwork.
The combination of unpopular Wes Matthews and the unpopular Pacers will prove devastating to the view counts of this video. If I wake up in the morning and this video has more than two hundred views, I’ll skip my morning Pop-Tarts and eat a big piece of kale instead. That’s a bet.