Seven undrafted players on the Miami Heat. The Miami Heat made it to the NBA Playoffs as an eighth seed. Injuries to their guards in their rotation of Victor Oladipo and Tyler Herro. Then you have a center on the Denver Nuggets who has won two NBA MVPs and gets no love for what he does. And a point guard on the Denver Nuggets that was written off after the bubble and coming back from a knee injury in Jamal Murray.
Now, here we are, in the NBA Finals where everyone wanted a Boston Celtics versus Los Angeles Lakers matchup to fight for title #18 and bragging rights but that didn’t happen. So are diehard fans going to watch the NBA Finals? Yes. The casual fan, probably not.
Let’s look at the role players for both teams because honestly, I think that will be the determining factor in who hoists the Larry O’Brien trophy in the next week or two. For Miami, Caleb Martin has sprung onto the scene (but I already knew what he was capable of) as he has shot lights out.
Max Strus and Duncan Robinson, they’re keeping the shooting going now that Steph and Klay are no longer in the playoffs. Gabe Vincent, when he gets going (refer back to the second round against the New York Knicks), you have a slew of guards who help Jimmy Butler with scoring and playing that stifling zone defense Head Coach Eric Spoelstra has.
Next, let’s look at the Denver Nuggets. They have role players that teams traded away or didn’t want anymore. They’re all getting the last laugh right now in Michael Porter Jr, Bruce Brown, Aaron Gordon, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Jeff Green. Porter Jr was a guy teams wouldn’t draft because of his back issues, Brown was on the Brooklyn Nets, Gordon was a star on the Orlando Magic before being traded, Caldwell-Pope played for the Lakers and Wizards before landing in the mile high city and Jeff Green has been a nomad in the league for over 10 years and hopefully he’s found a home for the foreseeable future.
What I will say to the casual fan is, watch the NBA Finals. Jokic isn’t going to excite you with dunks, crazy plays but he’s surely efficient and Coach Spo has his work cutout for him. The next reason is, both of these teams don’t like each other (refer back to the 2021 season with Jokic, Jimmy Butler and Markeiff Morris). Lastly, it’s going to be a grind out series and I feel Miami will win their fourth NBA title.
If Miami wins, it’ll be Jimmy Butler carrying a determined team like the 2012 Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki pushing that team to a title. It will be the highlight of Jimmy Butler’s career and I can see him at the podium now if he wins it this year saying, “I didn’t get minutes when I came into the league, I was a bad locker room guy, I wasn’t fit for a lot of team cultures and look at me now.”
If Denver wins, boy will Jamal Murray have plenty to say, “you guys thought my performance in the bubble was a fluke, you wrote me off after I tore my ACL, you guys didn’t give our team love all season long even after we got the #1 seed in the Western Conference, now I’m sitting here talking to you guys with the Larry O’Brien trophy right beside me. Maybe it’s time you respect the small market teams and give Jokic and this team the love we deserve.”
Jokic would come to the podium and be as candid as let’s say Tim Duncan and say, “I’ve worked hard all season, I kept my guys together, we knew what we were capable of and we won the championship.” Jokic is not the “I told you so” guy but Jamal Murray will surely not hold back.
The Canadian and the Serbian are gunning for the championship. They’re looking to become the next Milwaukee Bucks in being a small market team who wins. Time will tell if they accomplish that but one thing is for sure, I’ll be watching….
