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(Photo by Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Good afternoon, folks. Thursday night was a lame one for both the NBA and BBNBA. I still have some NBA to talk about, though.

RECAP

• So nothing happened in the NBA on Thursday. There were two TNT games that both ended in blowouts and a third game on League Pass that suffered a similar fate. Only Enes Kanter and Kevin Knox were representing the BBNBA, and while they both hit double-digits in scoring, the Knicks team were tossed aside by the Boston Celtics 100-128.
• Now that that’s out of the way, I’m going to do a bit of a different recap for today’s post. Basically, I’m just going to dip the pen and let words spill onto the page however they choose to – related to NBA topics, of course. Might even step outside the BBNBA realm a bit.

Brandon Knight’s return

• Let’s start with Brandon Knight, who is oh-so-close to finally making his return to the court. He went through his first full practice with the Rockets on Wednesday and the end to his year-and-a-half-long ACL recovery is right around the corner. He could step in right in time, too. The Rockets – if you haven’t heard – are horrendous right now. Their blowout loss to the also struggling Utah Jazz on national TV was all the proof you needed. Turns out the (Scape)GOAT Carmelo Anthony wasn’t the issue behind a team based almost entirely off of isolation offense that also lost their two best perimeter defenders for nothing. But I digress. I never really believed that Melo was the root of their problems anyway, and I say that as a major Melo hater. Sure, Melo shooting 1-11 was never helpful, but replacing the production lost on both ends of the court that Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute brought to the team has been even more outstanding than originally thought. Aside from losing basically their entire core of wing players and forcing 6-foot-6, 33-year old P.J. Tucker to play upwards of 34 minutes per game as a power forward, they have zero options at backup guard. Michael Carter-Williams is just as bad as you’d expect him to be. Knight’s return almost feels necessary for them at this point, which really isn’t a good thing. Do I think the Rockets will turn it around regardless of how much Knight impacts the game? Absolutely. They have two All-Star backcourt players (one being the reigning MVP), plenty of shooters, a brilliant offensive-minded head coach and an even smarter front office. They’ll make moves if they need to (moves that might potentially involve Knight), but right now, they need any sort of change to their system. Knight can be that change. It all depends on how confident he can play after sitting out for 18 months.

Teams that suck

• This is a short list, actually. The Cavaliers, Bulls, and Hawks are all garbage. My Cavaliers play basketball like we are still in the 1990s. The Bulls fired their head coach randomly for reasons that I honestly don’t understand (they do know they’re tanking, right?). The Hawks are at least somewhat entertaining with Trae Young and John Collins, although Young is shooting 23.9 percent on threes (he’ll be fine, don’t let his first 25 games work you into saying something that Twitter will destroy you for in two years. Twitter never forgets). But the Phoenix Suns, man. The Phoenix Suns are downright torture to watch. Even when Devin Booker isn’t in and out of the lineup due to whatever one-wheeled contraption he’s falling off of, the Suns are awful. Their roster is comparatively better than last season’s with the addition of Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges, Trevor Ariza, and Ryan Anderson, yet they have just four wins. They have zero point guards. None. Booker has spent wayyyy too much time playing point guard for his – and the team’s – own good. Their front office is borderline drunk. I bet you they trade a first-round pick for some middle of the road backup point guard like Terry Rozier or Frank Ntlikina. Mark it down.

Do I even need to talk about John Wall?

• I think we all know what’s going on in the nation’s capital. But let me refresh you a bit. The Wizards are a dysfunctional group of middle-schoolers. It’s hardly all Wall’s fault, but he’s certainly part of the issue. But without getting into all the drama that has fueled headlines for two months now, let’s just talk about Wall’s contract situation. He agreed to a four-year $170 million contract that doesn’t even kick in until next season when he’ll be 29. Think about that money for a second. By the final season of that deal, Wall is set to earn $46 million at age 33. That’s a lot of money for some bad knees with plenty of mileage and a playstyle that demands he be aggressive and attack the basket. Unless Wall adapts a consistent perimeter shot (he’s a career 32 percent three-point shooter), there is a huge chance that he isn’t going to age well in relation to his contract. The longer he stays in Washington, the more difficult it’s going to be to trade him away. Now before you fire up those trigger fingers and start pecking away at your keyboard let me say that Wall is still a very good and valuable player. He’s not the top-5 point guard he believes he is, but still an All-Star nonetheless. But judging by his lack of motivation and the tension within the locker room, I don’t foresee a situation where Wall and the Wizards finish this ride out together and on good terms.

The Magic and Kings are still good

• I’ve been bragging about the Kings for months now – as they are my favorite team of all time and always have been – but the team I haven’t hyped up nearly as much despite having unexcepted success are the Orlando Magic. We know the deal with the Kings. De’Aaron Fox is the second-coming of Michael Jordan himself and Willie Cauley-Stein is already better than Shaq, but Orlando has quietly put together a 12-13 record. At the center of their success is Nikola Vuceivc, their floor-spacing center. Vucevic is putting together a legitimate All-Star campaign, averaging 21 points and 11.4 rebounds per game while shooting 55 percent from the field and 41 percent from three. The Magic also employ Isaiah Briscoe, who has appeared in eight games this season. They’re a messy team to watch – and you’ll see what I mean when you watch Jonathan Issac and Mohamed Bamba try to learn the game of basketball on the fly – but they have a lot of fun and interesting prospects. Terrence Ross has also redefined his career at age 27. Fun times in Orlando.

I think that’s enough for today. There are 10 games tonight, so we’ll be back to our regular BBNBA recap on Saturday.

STATISTICS

TONIGHT IN THE NBA

7:00: Nuggets (Lyles, Murray, Vanderbilt-out) @ Hornets (Kidd-Gilchrist, Monk)

7:00 (ESPN): Sixers @ Pistons

7:00: Pacers @ Magic (Briscoe)

7:30: Raptors @ Nets

7:30: Kings (Cauley-Stein, Fox, Labissiere) @ Cavaliers

8:00: Thunder (Diallo, Noel, Patterson) @ Bulls

8:00: Grizzlies @ Pelicans (Davis, Miller, Randle, An. Harrison)

8:30: Lakers (Rondo-out) @ Spurs

9:00: Heat (Adebayo) @ Suns (Booker-out)

9:30 (ESPN): Warriors (Cousins-out) @ Bucks (Bledsoe)

Follow me on Twitter: @ZackGeoghegan