This is a team that can and will win it all if they stay healthy.

Man what a difference Lively has made for our squad. It really showcases just how much pressure was put on individual playmaking via Luka before. Now we actually are running real sets and Lively is enough of a offensive threat in the PNR to make defenses rotate instead of ignoring Powel since he wasnt a real threat. We’re actually ending up with easy dunks or wide open layups or 3 pointers instead of Luka taking on 2 guys for tough shots and then being gassed in the 4th.

Irving is gelling perfectly too allowing Luka to get longer rest times without any drop in offensive efficiency. Irving has played off-ball extremely well which makes sense because he won a championship playing that way with LeBron, but this still surprised me since I haven’t watched a ton of his games before. Irving is great off ball and then when Luka is out he can take over and run the offense in quick burst which I think is when he’s best versus having to run point the entire game.

This is night and day difference from what our team has looked like for years. When the Irving trade was made I said that we wouldn’t win with the current lineup until we got a big man to play in the middle of Irving and Luka and it unlocks our set running ability. The increased pace is so much more fun to watch. Their coming down and immediately getting into a play and the team movement is so much fun to watch. My wife and is used to moan about how flat footed the whole team was on offense while Luka dribbled up top until 12 seconds left in the shot clock and either take it himself or 1 pass and shot. Last night it seemed the majority of our shots happened before the shot clock even hit 12 seconds.

If we can improve defensively then I think we will win it. Lively has the potential to protect the paint and you can see flashes of it, but will screw up his rotations and be timid in certain situations. That will improve with the season. DJJ with his length and tenacity and grant williams has meant the drop from Finney-Smith is not as bad of a hole as it seemed. If O-Max can get some reps in with the G-league and be a defensive asset this year then I think we’ll have the length and toughness to handle the postseason. I mean Finney-Smith and Bulluck got us to the West Finals before.

I just have to say Thank God we tanked last year to keep the Lively pick. 1 more win and we don’t have that and it would be Luka and Kyrie playing superstar ball to win games.

What a difference Nico has made as well.