Broadcast Fall 2018 TV Review:

Broadcast Fall 2018 TV Review:

CBS:

The Neighborhood: If you had a show about a black family moving into an all white neighborhood in the past it would be more of a drama of how racist they would be to the new family. But this is 2018 sitcom about an all black neighborhood in LA that has a new white family move in and it’s about them being neighbors when Cedric the Entertainer and his family gets new neighbors who happen to be white. His new neighbor’s antics start to drive him nuts and their difference in culture and race lead to them butting heads with each other. The banter between them and them trying to understand each other’s cultures/races is funny when you do find out the differences because they look at each other weirdly. Also how he handles his oldest son who still lives at home and other son who spends most of his time home despite having his own place. While Max Greenfield plays the white, odd, annoying neighbor who is a younger man who has only been a father for a shorter time with his young son.  Their differences in parenting is funny because one is older than other by a lot so their parenting styles are also different. They only moved in because his wife got a new job and it is close to the school for his son but they don’t show him at his job while Cedric is auto mechanic and wants to be left alone. Both the wives get along with each other it’s the relationship between the dads that is an issue since one wants to be friends and other is annoyed by him. Cedric’s sons find it entertaining to not play on words that he can’t get along with his white odd neighbor and purposely try to get them to hang out with each other and let him get on their dad’s nerves. The banter and humor along with good lead actors I feel like that show should be a long running sitcom. 

Verdict: Renewed. 

Happy Together: Damon Wayans Jr stars in a sitcom about a married couple who are stuck in a rut of a routine of staying in and watching TV instead of going out and partying. He plays an accountant whose client is a huge Australian pop star like a Justin Bieber needs a place to lay low from the paparazzi after a break up. While he stays with the boring old couple despite them barely being older than them he tries to get them to relive their lost youth and fun. They soon realize it’s a great fit for them to be more youthful and fun with him while he can live like a regular person instead of a big pop star doing rich people things. It is nice Amber West has a new show after Ghosted got cancelled. While I wonder if the pop star helps pays the bills or buy the groceries as well? It is also nice to see Victor Williams from King of Queens be the father to West but who is his mother since his dad is played Damon Wayans Sr? Plus Chris Parnell plays the boss and he is always funny so the cast is pretty good. The show has had some laughs in seeing the difference of how rich famous people live compared to regular people but it’s a little clunky hopefully over the course of the season they can find a good flow still not buying anything Harry Styles of 1 Direction does since he is producing the show. I don’t like the mother she is too annoying and weird though. The problem is some episodes are not about Cooper trying to live a simple life or him getting the couple to live a little they seem to be diverting away from intended plot. 

Verdict: Cancelled. Good to see a theme song but can’t they just use the original song Happy Together by the Turtles? 

FBI: From Dick Wolf who made Law & Order comes a show about the FBI branch in NYC as it centers around their first class agents Maggie Bell and Omar Zidan who bring all of their talents, intellect and technical expertise to tenaciously investigate cases of tremendous magnitude, including terrorism, organized crime and counterintelligence, to keep New York and the country safe. It has good action scenes, good crime solving scenes but in episode 1 compared to episode 2/3 they have a different boss maybe they were figuring things out after the pilot. They also have a boss that runs the main room of the analysts who are always on their computers so maybe he is 2^nd in command. They also have like an expert on tech and many other things they go to which is like many shows about government agencies having that expert. They give you some good background info on the male lead working either for the FBI/other agencies infiltrating Muslim terrorist cells since he is of Muslim faith and could blend in so he is valuable when it comes to how terrorists think. The female lead all we know is she is a widow and came back to work too quickly the hope is  they dive deeper in her person life and maybe show flashbacks of the male lead in those cells. It has my attention because crime procedurals are great no matter if its cops, detectives, FBI agents and other agencies. 

Verdict: Renewed. Due to Dick Wolf making CBS money all these years with his show Law & Order and their spinoffs like six they would be nuts to say nope on this one. 

God Friended me: The show is centered on Miles an atheist with a podcast he is trying to get on the air/site of a big time radio/podcasting company around. The issues he has in life is that he is tired of his dead end customer service phone rep job at a credit card company and his troubled relationship with his dad who is a reverend who doesn’t like him being an atheist. He has a supporting sister who just wants her family to get along since things haven’t been the same since their mother died. As his life is turning around by getting a company who is interested in his podcast this FB account claiming to be G-d friends him and messes up his life almost ruining his new job. Unwittingly, he becomes an agent of change in the lives and destinies of others around him when the account keeps suggesting him people to help. The first person he helps is Cara a journalist who is also struggling with her job and life. They become an unlikely duo of trying to solve who this person is claiming to be who he says he is and find out how all these friend suggestions make up the story in why this is happening to him. He doesn’t believe in random instances as he is trying to figure out a rational reason as to why him and why they keep bugging him about it and uses his tech friend to help track the account but it’s not as easy as you think. In the end it will change his life and others for the better good. This show grabs by you by the emotional strings like “This is us” and keeps you wanting to watch it because it’s very uplifting and positive. CBS has had a social media show last season in Wisdom of the Crowd where it was helping other people like this show is about helping others out that you don’t know. They also had a show called “Living Biblically” about how to be religious during current times like this show does as well but both were cancelled. It is in interesting study of how millennial and people view religion as well in these times. It shows you can make a difference in the world and sometimes you may need a nudge in the right direction to do it. It also is about building relationships & rebuilding relationships that you didn’t think could happen. It is also about trying to realize where you belong or fit in the world when you’re unsure of what road or path to take. It has already gotten me emotionally hooked that I need to see how far this can go if they figure out who is behind the account or will they push that aside to see how many seasons they can get out of it. The lead actor does such a good job in getting us behind him on this quest and that you want him to succeed in the quest or the podcast career. I don’t like the heavenly lit scenes when he is shown talking to people hope they fix it. I do like the casting of Violet Beane from her work as Jesse Quick in the Flash and veteran actor Joe Morton being the dad. 

Verdict: Renewed but weary of past shows with similar plots on this station or other stations like with Kevin probably saves the world being cancelled. I’m emotionally invested and hope CBS sees this potential in a very good uplifting show that maybe can help us in the real world if we learn from this show’s lesson they are teaching. 

NBC:

I Feel Bad: A comedy that Amy Poehler is an executive producer comes another interracial Indian couple (two Jewish actors but one Jewish character but three total) who knows she’s not a perfect mom and always has a situation where she “feels bad”.  She tries to raise her kids while being in charge at a video game company and take care of her needy husband’s needs who is played by Paul Adelstein of Prison Break. She will pretend they are not her kids when they misbehave in public or the husband is being too whiney she will dream about cheating on him. She has to also overcome being a woman in charge of young millennial in a mostly male job in video games/uses them to help solve her personal problems. No one can be a perfect working mother/wife but all she wants to do is not turn into her overbearing mother it will be fine. Her mother like many Indian mothers wanted her to marry a nice Indian man and be a stay at home mother and parent like her. The funniest actor in the show is her father Brian George (Raj’s father in TBBT, Bashir’s father in DS9 and Seinfeld) has funny lines and does funny things like always. Never seen the lead actress besides seeing her in Blocker a movie so it’s really the 1^st time gauging her as an actress but she doesn’t seem like a lead role. It’s nice to see Johnny Pemberton be one of those video games nerds that work for the lead after his show Son of Zorn got cancelled. 

Verdict: Cancelled. It’s not very funny even though it is relatable to mothers out there who work and be a parent/wife but it just doesn’t work that well. It is not as good as American Housewife or other mother sitcoms on TV currently. NBC put Poehler’s making it reality show with Nick Offerman so they love her so it will probably get a few seasons but that a slim chance. 

New Amsterdam: Dr. Max Goodwin is all about everyone else but his own well being when he takes over as the new medical director at America’s oldest hospital. He took that job to be closer to his wife who has been estranged with because of his work and has a baby coming and he wants to fix bureaucracy that hospitals place over patients. The other doctors aren’t buying it because they have been promised this before. He takes no for an answer from his boss by disrupting the status quo and proves he will stop at nothing to breathe new life into this understaffed, underfunded and underappreciated hospital. His goal is to put this hospital on the map because of their services for the patients not about billing. It is based on the book Twelve Patients: Life and Death at Bellevue Hospital by Eric Manheimer. Ryan Eggold does a great job on convincing you he can make all these changes despite his boss/the naysayers that he can do it on all on his own. Despite having cancer he doesn’t care, his speed is only fast passed and getting involved on every task that needs to be done. This show is very uplifting and gets you emotionally attached each episode if they can save people and his story of trying to fix a corrupt system. 

Verdict: Renewed. We need more uplifting shows on the air especially with how the world is going right now and that people want to change the world. 

Manifest: When Montego Air Flight 828 landed safely after a turbulent but routine flight, the crew and passengers were relieved. But in the span of those few hours, the world had aged five years and after mourning their loss, their friends, families and colleagues had given up hope and moved on. Now, faced with the impossible, they're all given a second chance. As they reintegrate themselves into present-day society, the passengers begin to face the fact that their lives and loved ones are not the same as they were before, while they also begin to experience guiding voices and hallucinations But as their new realities become clear, a deeper mystery unfolds, and some of the returned passengers soon realize they may be meant for something greater than they ever thought possible. The show centers are a detective Michaela Stone, her brother Ben and her nephew they start to investigate what really happened despite the NSA telling them to not talk about it or look into it. It also connects them with everyone that was on their flight and start working together to solve this mystery like the medical researcher who is the person helping treat the nephew’s leukemia as well as looking into what happened. It reminds me of the short lived show The Crossing on ABC about people mysterious coming from the future into the past like this group mysteriously disappearing for five years. But it was a very confusing show on picking which genre it was but the best part was the investigation by the sheriff. The hope is the detective is the main focus and they investigate it because it’s been to soap opera about every passenger reentry back into their lives. This show better pick which genre it is being a drama, a sci-fi show or an investigative show because it’s also all over the place. 

Verdict: Cancelled. Due to similar shows like it not getting long runs it will probably be cancelled but I will continue to watch this show because I want to see how far they can go into seeing who was behind it because so far there are no real answers. I want to see it get solved even if it’s only a three season show. 

ABC:

Single Parents: An ensemble diverse cast about parents but not married parents, single parents who look out for each other since being a parent is harder on your own. They lean on each other to help raise their 7-year-old kids and maintain some kind of personal lives outside of parenthood. The show begins with Taran Killam a single parent in his 30’s moves to their town and is so focused on raising his daughter that he's lost sight of who he is as a man, they see just how far down the rabbit hole of PTA, parenting and princesses he has gone. The collective of single parents decide to band together to get him out in the dating world and make him realize that being a great parent doesn't mean sacrificing everything about his own identity. Leighton Meester(of Gossip Girl and Making History) plays the de facto leader trying to rein in all the personalities and issues of the crew like Poppy a wine restaurant owner with a flamboyant kid, Miggy a single dad with a baby that he has no idea how to take care of/be a parent and veteran comedic actor Brad Garret(of Everybody loves Raymond) who is older than the rest while being widowed not their spouse leaving them as a single father with identical twin daughters who often puts them to work. Despite two big time male actors being involved they do a good job at making every main character be important as a whole than two leads and supporting actors. Garret kind of stays in the back and doesn’t speak much but when he does its really funny lines and Killam might be playing a weirdo it’s more about him trying to fit in into the group as he is not a part of it till episode 2. It seems like it’s more about Meester and her friend Poppy then the three guys. If you’re looking for laughs because your struggling with parenting/single parenting this show might help ease your stress since you can relate to these situations. 

Verdict: Renewed. ABC has continued to make some good original sitcoms and hope it sticks around for awhile. If the show is more about the parents then the kids like most sitcoms it will keep getting my attention/others.

The Kids are Alright: Another sitcom that takes place in the past this takes place in the 1970s about an Irish Catholic family the Clearys who have 8 boys all with different personalities. The show seems to revolve around the Timmy one of the middle children who likes the arts. It shows the big and small changes during a challenging decade for a working class family in an LA suburb that have their children most of the time not supervised who live in three rooms. The show starts with the oldest son who comes home from Seminary and wants to drop out causing problems in the household.  Mary McCormack from West Wing, Murder One and In Plain Sight is the matriarch of this family and the father is played by Michael Cudlitz from The Walking Dead, Southland and Band of Brothers works for NASA. 

Verdict: Renewed. There are not many time place family sitcoms on the air besides the Goldbergs and this is very funny. ABC has already wrongfully cancelled enough sitcoms they shouldn’t anger more fans. 

A Million Little Things: Friendship isn’t a big thing but a million little things. Four friends you think met in college actually met when being stuck in an elevator and bonded on being Bruins fans. Some have achieved success, others are struggling in their careers and relationships, but all of them feel stuck in life. The most outgoing/happy friend played by Ron Livingston out of the blue commits suicide and it changes the friends and families’ lives immediately that it’s just the wake-up call the others need to finally start living. Along the way, they discover that friends may be the one thing that can save them from themselves. One of the surviving friends himself has been dealing with depression and was almost about to suffer the same fate but got the call his friend died which stopped him from going through it. He is a director who is stuck making commercials instead of movies but it pays the bills. The other friend is actuary and the single friend who is of the group who has never found the woman of his dreams/or really like his job but is also worrying about if he is going to die anytime soon since he is a breast cancer survivor. Yes a guy who is in remission of breast cancer and he feels like at any moment his life could end if it comes back and stays in a rut. But he finally meets a girl worth dating but she also has her own problems as he met her in the support group for breast cancer survivors. The final friend to round out the group gets the lead billing in the show as the former front man of a band that was going places till he had to be a father. His current issues have been marital and job profession of just teaching music and struggling with his life as well that leads to him sleeping with a student’s mother. He is just stuck in a rut with is marriage and hasn’t the courage to get a divorce because of his kid. It also revolves around Livingston’s widow and his family along with the other two wives. ABC is trying to make a show like NBC’s This is us but this show is different it’s more a of awareness to suicide prevention. Of trying to find the telling signs if there any signs because sometimes even the happiest people can be depressed.  They want to tug on your emotional heart strings like that NBC show but this show seems that it can be more uplifting and place to watch to see others who struggle with loss if you lost someone even if it wasn’t to suicide. It is an ensemble cast as well but with less famous actors but you need to keep watching to see how they all get along in life/if they change life. To see what changes they make, who is the woman the main character is in love with, if their cancer survivor friend can find love and if the other friend can find happiness in his profession. Plus see what the assistant of Livingston’s is hiding from the family and friends since she was present when he committed suicide because she is hiding something you can tell. Plus why he committed suicide that is the major mystery we want to see get solved. 

Verdict: Renewed. ABC needs a new drama that will last long that isn’t Grey’s Anatomy that competes with NBC's This Is Us.

The Rookie: Nathan Fillon stars a middle aged small town oldest rookie cop ever who has a different prospective of the world seeing the world as there is good in everyone. He becomes a cop after a life altering moment in his life but he is met with criticism from his superior officer who thinks it’s just a midlife crisis and will get his other cops killed because he isn’t really invested or willing to take the risk. If he can use his life experience, determination and sense of humor to give him an edge, he may just become successful in this new chapter of his life. He is hoping he can prove to his superior officer who isn’t a big fan of him his background can actually help him become a great cop. But ultimately he is trying to prove it to himself that he can stick to one thing in his life finally and prove he actually be a cop. This isn’t a melodrama but isn’t a comedy either its light hearted cop show that makes you want to root for him. It also has great supporting actors in the show as well in Richard T Jones who has been in many cop shows including last year on Wisdom of the Crowd, Eric Winter of Rosewood when he was a pathologist and Afton Williams who was in Blindspot, Shades of blue and other cop shows. You want to see if he learns from Williams on how to be a cop but also use his life experiences to stick around since 1 out of 3 rookie cops wash out. We also want to see if he will ever prove Jones wrong that he isn’t doing it just because he is lost and if he can continue to date his fellow rookie or not. Also we should get interested in Winter’s back-story and current life issues because it might explain why he does what he does to Fillon’s love interest since he is training her. Plus why the captain took the midlife crisis guy in her prescient when no one else did, does she something in him? 

Verdict: Renewed. It might be a little cheesy the premise but due to Fillon’s strong acting chops as a charismatic lead and the good supporting actors plus the uplifting message and path Fillon is on you need to stick with it a few seasons. 

CW:

All American: When a coach from Beverly Hills High Billy Baker comes to recruit a WR Spencer James from South Crenshaw High School it raises questions as to why he is trying to get this kid out of all kids out of the bad neighborhood and about what the consequences are for the coach’s home life that come from it. He has his own son who is the QB of the team, a daughter out of rehab but is focusing all of his attention on his kid and has him living at his home so he is in the district. It has a Friday Night Lights feel of a high school football team but is focused on James in particular not the team except how his teammates handle a teammate coming for their position on the team and maybe their girlfriend. James struggles as all kids did do in a new school by trying to balance his studies, his football duties of playing defense and WR, and being the man of his house since his dad left his family years and has to take care of his younger brother/mother due to the gangs in their area. It has much drama in this show so it not just a football show it’s a high school drama that has to do about a kid with a football dream. It is inspired by the life of pro football player Spencer Paysinger and stars Taye Diggs as the coach. The hope is they answer the questions of why he recruited him besides his football talent, who is this father who went to coach and never came back, Digg’s past life and current life of his kids and their issues. 

Verdict: Renewed.  CW doesn’t cancel many shows and this has the ability to last a long time like Friday Night Lights due to the lead actor, the based on a true story part and good potential story lines of people’s past and if the show goes long enough to see him get recruited by colleges. 

FOX:

Rel: Loosely based on his own life story about his wife cheating on him, divorcing him and taking the kids and moving away as he struggles to parent long distance and be in the single world. The kicker is she cheated on him with his barber and finding a good barber is very important to him and many others in the west side of Chicago. All he has left is his younger and stupider brother who recently got out of jail, his dad who is played by Sinbad and his female best friend who is little crazy but always there for him. The show is about him trying to long distance parent his kids and jumps head first into the dating pool in hilarious attempts to find true love again. Its relatable for anyone who has had bad relationships, bad dates and for me because he is a short glasses wearing man that is trying hard to find women who will overlook his height and glasses. His relationship with family after a depressing thing happened to him plus his own physical humor, bad luck situations which is relatable and his good improv skills playing other characters in the show equaling a heartwarming comedy about starting over again that make you laugh out loud too many times to count. I think Fox should give this comedy a few years and put it with live action shows not with the animated shows. 

Verdict: Renewed. 

The Cool Kids: A group of old people who live in a retirement home believe that just because they are old doesn’t mean they have to stop living so they continue to have fun. There is a group of four men who are friends in a nursing home but one of them dies and are trying to figure out who will replace their friend but before they do a woman sits in his seat. They slowly learn to adopt to her to be a part of their crew and they go out on adventures but as old people who say just because I am old doesn’t mean I’m going to give up on living life how I want. One of the creators, producers and writers in actor Charlie Day who is known for his great comedy writing on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadphia” a part of a three man writing crew. Actors from that show along with actors who are old now also appear on it. David Alan Grier leads the crew who is very opinionated and stuck in his ways, Martin Mull playing the crazy friend who does and says crazy things while saying crazy stories from his past and their gay friend in the group played by Leslie Jordan who is always saying he doesn’t want to be a part of the schemes but still does them and their new friend the woman in the group is played by Vicki Lawrence is also trying to have fun despite her age but butts heads with Grier’s character. It has some crude humor which is expected by the people who write it but has great comedic writing with insults and great retorts back to the other characters. It has a great cast to help the writing get delivered correctly and we all want to see how much trouble these old actors can get into as the season goes on and with them introducing more actors who are old to appear later on in the season. We have Jamie Farr from M*A*S*H* and Max Gail of Barney Miller appearing as well. 

Verdict: Renewed. With only two other half hour sitcoms on Fox they don’t have much for comedy so they need a successful comedy. 

2018-2019 NBA Preview:

Central Division: With Lebron no longer in the East/Central the Milwaukee Bucks will be the best team in this division. They have the best player in this division who’s is only just getting better and better every year. Giannis Antetokounmpo is a freak of nature hence the nickname “The Greek Freak” he can do everything on a basketball court except hit a three point shot consistently.

With new coach Mike Budenholzer the hope is Giannis gets along with him since he didn’t like the firing of Jason Kidd last year. But the hope is with a healthy F Kris Middleton, former rookie of the year G Malcolm Brogdon, a full season of PG Eric Bledsoe, 1^st round pick G Donte DiVecenzo, and an improving F Thon Maker this young team can rule the Central and compete for the Eastern Conference Finals. They did bring back F Ersan Ilyasova to be a three point threat and a real center in Brook Lopez. Getting out of the 1^st round should be their goal. The Indiana Pacers surprised many by making the playoffs and taking Lebron & Co to 7 games but it was because of the All-Star year of G Victor Oladipo.

This year will be his test if he can replicate his personal season and guide his team back to the playoffs in a weakened conference. They are expecting another year of growth from C Myles Turner to form a dynamic duo with Oladipo. They have solid role players in F Thaddeus Young, an improving F Domantas Sabonis, guards Tyreke Evans, Cory Joseph, plus they have two 3 point weapons in forwards Doug McDermott and Bojan Bogdanovic.  Their goal also this year is getting out of the 1^st round since they have the talent. The Chicago Bulls have a very good young nucleus in year two of rebuilding after last year’s tank year. They wasted time by going with veterans who couldn’t shoot threes or run the floor which is what fits head coach Fred Hoidberg’s fast paced system. They had one of the best rookies last year in F Lauri Markkanen who will only get better in year two and re-signed explosive G Zach Lavine for a full year of health.

They also drafted a promising center in Wendell Carter Jr., and have an improving young PG in Kris Dunn who is just entering his 3^rd season plus picked up 22 year old PG Tyler Ulis. F Jabari Parker is back home on a one year prove it deal to show people he can stay healthy and is only getting better as a player. But they want to play him at SF which isn’t his best position because he isn’t a great three point shooter when his is a mid range game. They also have veterans G Justin Holiday and C Robin Lopez who seem like extra since they have six big men and another five backcourt players so they should be traded. This team will actually be trying to win games this year but not many even in the weakened conference. The Detroit Pistons will not be a last team due to their talent but also who left the other team as they fired GM/head coach Stan Van Gundy after only making the playoffs once. That was with PG Reggie Jackson being hurt for most of it since coming over from OKC and C Andre Drummond and you would think with two young talented players in the East they would make it but nope.

They even traded for PF Blake Griffin and his long term contract from the Clippers last year which was probably the reason Van Gundy got fired after only four seasons. When the league is going small with spacing/three point shooters their two best players are both big men which would work maybe even 5 years ago not this current NBA. Drummond is a prototypical center who plays by the basket and Griffin is a midrange/by the basket kind of player. They are stuck with this paring for awhile with Griffin under contract for another four years (I love Griffin) but he isn’t the same player he was and this paring isn’t going to work even in the weakened conference (They did this before with Greg Monroe). They have four total good players with their own issues but have an intriguing one in F Stanley Johnson but it will be a long season for Detroit. As stated earlier/many times before SF Lebron James packed his bags for Hollywood leaving his hometown after being swept in the NBA Finals. Cue last place for the Cleveland Cavaliers for a long time. They still have Kevin Love who might go back to Minnesota, Love averaging a double-double every night but he’s always hurt and they have no real center again since Tristan Thompson is a PF like Love.

They also still have G JR Smith, G Kyle Korver, G Jordan Clarkson, F Larry Nance JR (another PF), G George Hill, G Rodney Hood and brought back F Channing Frye (another PF who they traded at the deadline last year). The young players that are intriguing are PG Colin Sexton who they drafted and traded for F Sam Dekker (another PF). I would have traded Love, Thompson and their other veterans by doing a full rebuild mode but they re-signed Love to a four year extension. Trust me at this year’s deadline many teams could use seven of their veterans so trades will come. 

Atlantic Division: This will be the year that the Boston Celtics will make the NBA Finals and lose to the Warriors since they have the best roster in the East with two All Stars. They are banking on a healthy season from PG Kyrie Irving and that SF Gordon Hayward is the same player he was before the gruesome injury, plus the players they filled in for them will only get better with another season.

Young players G Terry Roizer, G Jasyon Tatum and F Jaylen Brown filled in nicely for them during their playoff run, plus they still have veterans in F Marcus Morris , C Aron Baynes and former All Star Al Horford in the front court. The only issue is who is going to start between Hayward, Tatum and Brown at SG/SF unless they go small with one at PF but Horford has never been a true center. If they don’t win the East that will be the biggest disappointment this season since they have the best roster, 2 All Stars and the best coach in the East in Brad Stevens.
The Philadelphia 76ers also have 2 All Stars so this rivalry will be playing out for years since they are the two best teams in the East. Another season of development for PG Ben Simmons and C Joel Embiid will be scary if they both can learn to shoot from distance with consistency. 

Plus they have F Dario Saric who is a three point threat with veterans G JJ Redick, F Robert Covington and F Wilson Chandler will make up the good support system for two emerging superstars. The question for this team is will last year’s #1 overall pick get back to being the scorer he was in college and not get into his head that he can’t shoot after he got hurt, and they told him to change his shooting form instead of letting him just get healthy. If G Markelle Fultz can be on the court all season (since they are only asking him to be is their #3/#4 option) and just make the shots when he’s open and plays to his potential they can definitely have a Big 3.  Boston VS Philly will be the best rivalry this year and when they meet up in the playoffs it will be epic but when the best 3 teams are in the same division it shows how weak the East is as a whole.The Toronto Raptors will be the 3^rd best team simply because they traded for the services for one the top 10 players in the whole NBA in SF Kawhi Leonard. It might only be for one season but Leonard and PG Kyle Lowry will hope their tag team is better than the previous one that kept losing to Lebron & Co.

They still have C Jonas Valanciunas but he hasn’t improved that much over 6 seasons and PF Serge Ibaka isn’t the same player he was in OKC so their 3^rd best player might be G Norman Powell (who most of you never heard of plus most of their roster). They did bring in PF Greg Monroe and G Danny Green to be veteran presences for G CJ Miles to help this young team. But since this tag team of Leonard-Lowry isn’t as good as Simmons-Embiid or Irving-Hayward and they will not win the conference this year and see Leonard leave leading to a full rebuild with a new head coach after firing Dwane Casey. The Brooklyn Nets will not finish in last place this year that would be the New York Knicks since NYK is missing their franchise player in F Kristaps Porzingis all year/playing for next year’s free agent class. Centered on young players G D’Angelo Russell and F Rondae Hollis-Jefferson they look like they have more promise but also can be players for two max contracts next season like the Knicks.

They also don’t have a roster of nobodies they have F DeMarre Carroll, G Allen Crabbe (who Portland missed last year), C Ed Davis, G Spencer Dinwiddle, G Jared Dudley, F Kenneth Faried and G Shabazz Napier all who could be trade pieces at the deadline.

While the Knicks have a roster of rejects/failed draft picks from other teams in PG Trey Burke, PG Emmanuel Mudiay, F Noah Vonleh, and F Mario Hezonja. They have overpriced role players in G Courtney Lee, G Tim Hardway JR and C Enes Kanter plus they are still paying for C Joakim Noah who can’t stand up right to suit up. They drafted a PG in Frank Ntilikina last year but then got two other young PGS so who plays PG? Then this year they drafted SF Kevin Knox but brought in two other failed forwards plus are paying Hardaway to play SF so they are all over the place. Good luck to David Fizdale who was wrongfully fired by Memphis so we all are happy he got a 2^nd chance but unless they get one or two all stars in 2019 to pair with KP its going to be a long four years for him. 

Southeast Division: The Washington Wizards still have one of the best backcourt duos in the NBA but they should have split them up and gotten a good frontcourt player instead. Guards John Wall and Bradley Beal are talented and always make the playoffs but they never do anything in the playoffs and are on their 2^nd coach.

They also both have a history of not staying healthy and they just traded their starting center Martin Gortat for G Austin Rivers so they had a hole at center so they signed Dwight Howard. Yes he can play defense, grab rebounds and play well inside but he hasn’t been the same dominating player since his back started acting up. So even in a weakened East a trio of Beal-Wall-Howard isn’t scary even if forwards Otter Porter Jr and Kelly Oubre Jr are nice young players who play up to their potential. They are not better than the top 4 teams but nonetheless a top 5 team. They also brought in forwards Jeff Green and Lavoy Allen to add to their veteran bench players in C Ian Mahinmi, G Jodie Meeks and F Markeiff Morris. The Miami Heat are one of those remaining teams that are good enough to make the playoffs in the East based on a few good players they still have in guards Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters and C Hassan Whiteside.

They also have good veteran role players in G Wayne Ellington, forwards James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk, and G Dwayne Wade is coming back for a final season with F Udonis Haslem. Plus they have young improving players in forwards Justise Winslow,  Josh Richardson and G Tyler Johnson that will be enough to snag the last playoff spot. If they trade for Jimmy Butler to play SF they can leapfrog over the Wizards or the Pacers.The Charlotte Hornets will be the 8^th seed this year based on the weakened talent level in the East plus they have an All Star in PG Kemba Walker.

If they are smart they will give G Jeremy Lamb, F Frank Kaminsky and C Cody Zeller their 3 best young players more minutes instead of playing veterans past their prime/overrated ones instead of them. They also hope G Malik Monk can turn it around his sophomore year with rookie F Miles Bridges to help lead the scoring on the 2^nd unit with Tony Parker at PG. They can easily make the playoffs if they play their more talented players to see if they can play rather than the backups they are trotting out there in C Bismack Biyombo, F Marvin Williams and the offensively challenged F Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. If James Borrego can learn from the mistakes that Steve Clifford made with this team/bring over the knowledge from Greg Popovich they will consistently making the playoffs. The Orlando Magic were lucky the Atlanta Hawks were purposely trying to lose last year or they would have been the worst team in the East. I have no idea what they are doing when they drafted Mo Bamba since they already had a starting center in Nikola Vucevic and F Aaron Gordon who is best suited at PF.

We saw how bad it was for him to spend too much time at SF since they had too many big men last year but it will happen again. They had to trade Biyombo and cut Mo Speights to make room for Bamba but still signed a center in Tomfey Mozgov too. They could have drafted a PG since they did trade away their starting PG Elfrid Payton during last season/Oladipo a few seasons back. They could have drafted Trae Young who the Mavericks traded anyway that night or Colin Sexton at PG or even went with a good wing player in Knox, Bridges (2x) or Porter JR but they now have no starting PG because they are starting DJ Augustin or Jerian Grant or Evan Fournier who are all backups. Atlanta will be haunted for years for trading away Luka Doncic for Trae Young who isn’t the world’s best defender or was he consistent in college but hey they are in a rebuild so they are trying anything to be good. They do have some good players on this team but most are rejects from other teams in F Thomas Robinson, C Miles Plumlee, G Jeremy Lin, C Alex Len, C Dewayne Dedmon and the ageless wonder Vince Carter,

But they hope the young core of Young, F Taurean Prince, and F Johns Collins can improve on last year’s record but their best player at this moment might be G Kent Bazmore which is the sign of last place this year and for a few more years.  

Pacific Division: The Golden State Warriors are the best team and have four of the best 20 players in the league so they are the favorites to win the NBA Championship again! As long as you have PG Steph Curry, SG Klay Thompson, SF Kevin Durant and forward Draymond Green it’s going to be another championship year for them.

They also signed C DeMarcus Cousins who is coming off an ACL tear to help them in the 2^nd half/playoffs to make an unbeatable lineup, plus they still have F Andre Iguodala, G Shaun Livingston and G Nick Young off the bench. They also F Jonas Jerebko to solidify the bench. The only real question is who will play center till Cousins comes back now that JaVale McGee and Zaza Pachulia are gone? The Los Angeles Lakers now have SF Lebron James which is what they do in terms of either drafting a hall of famer or signing the hall of famer.

He instantly makes the team a playoff contender but in the deep West they will be fighting for an 8^th seed. They added some nice veterans to one year deals to help the young core out like PG Rajon Rondo, G Lance Stephenson, C JaVale McGee, F Michael Beasley and brought back G Kentavous Caldwell-Pope. They are each designed to start now/play a lot since the team is in win now mode but also to motivate/mentor the younger players that play their positions.  They have still have PG Lonzo Ball coming off an injury plagued rookie season, G Josh Hart, F Brandon Ingram who keeps improving every year and F Kyle Kuzma who balled out last season as a rookie. All of them will be fighting for playing time with those veterans. I’d like to be more optimistic but as Lebron gets older he can’t will this team to the Finals in this deep conference and with this roster since he has no #2 star to play with. So playoffs yes but nothing more than 8^th/7^th seed this year. The LosAngeles Clippers will be embarking the first full season without C DeAndre Jordan (Left for Dallas), PF Blake Griffin (traded last deadline to Detroit) and PG Chris Paul who was traded before last season started. It should be a total rebuild mode since they have no chance in the West. They have 10 veterans on their roster that can still play in the league not all of them are starters but they all can still play well. They still have the reigning 6^th man of the year in G Lou Williams.

They signed away F Luc Mbah A Moute from rival Houston, still have C Boban Marjanovic, F Tobias Harris, F Danilo Gallinari, G Patrick Beverley, G Avery Bradley, traded for C Marcin Gortat and signed F Mike Scott. They also still have Serbian passing sensation PG Milos Teodosic and young F Montrezl Harrell who they got in the Paul trade.  You would think they would start a full rebuild with young players and draft picks by trading some of these guys, and they only have Harrell and their two first round draft picks as building pieces. They will not be competing for a playoff spot this year or for awhile. TRADE these guys at the deadline, there are teams that can use them and I don’t know much longer Doc Rivers wants to stay around for a rebuild/mediocre team. The Phoenix Suns have been in rebuild mode for years and they at least have G Devin Booker to show for it.

They also had the 1^st pick in the draft this year and got a young exciting two way center in Deandre Ayton plus they traded at draft night for the draft rights to F Mikal Bridges and still have last year’s first round pick F Josh Jackson to build for the future around. They are going in the right direction by drafting young players/acquiring them since they have two 2^nd round picks on the roster, with another team’s 2^nd round pick from this year, and their 2^nd round pick from last year. But they still have this gluttony of big men on their roster with C Tyson Chandler, Dragan Bender who they got two years ago and F Ryan Anderson, so they had to let Alex Len go and trade Marquese Chriss to make room for all the big men. That is not a smart decision loading up on big men old and young when you need PG/wing players with Eric Bledsoe and Tyler Ulis gone. They did add some nice veterans to round out this team so they have veterans in the locker room in SF Trevor Ariza, G Jamal Crawford, SF Darrell Arthur, and G Isaiah Canaan , G Troy Daniels and F TJ Warren. The Sacramento Kings have been lost for years and they had All Star DeMarcus Cousins playing for them now they have nobody. They have the 2^nd pick in the draft which was used on center Marvin Bagley but they have been drafting big men for years instead of guards like drafting C Willie Cauley-Stein and Skal Labissiere when they had Cousins.

Now they drafted PG De’Aaron Fox and F Justin Jackson last year so at least they are making progress since they also got G Buddy Hield in the Cousins trade. They have a core of young players finally to build around but still will be a last place team even if they have G Iman Shumpert, F Zach Randolph, C Kousta Koufos, G Yogi Ferrell, and G Bogdan Bogdanovic, since a mix of too young-inexperienced players and backups will not win much in the West. 

Southwest Division: The Houston Rockets are the only real threat to the Warriors after taking them to 7 games in their conference finals but came up short since PG Chris Paul was injured and they missed 27 consecutive threes in the game. A healthy Paul with G James Harden, F PJ Tucker, G Eric Gordon, C Clint Capela, PF Marquese Chriss(only is 21) who they traded for and now SF Carmelo Anthony who gets to join his friend Paul is still a good core to compete with the Warriors.

Melo will be coming off the bench for instant offense with Gordon, Nene, F Gerald Green, PGs Brandon Knight and Michael Carter-Williams which means they are 10 deep. Their goal is NBA Finals or else this year so they should try to get into the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes since he is from Texas and that will put them on the same level as Warriors. The New Orleans Pelicans have one of the best players in the league in center Anthony Davis but the clock is ticking on when he will leave for brighter lights.

His fellow big man Cousins left them after missing the 2^nd half of the season with an injury so they got PFs Julius Randle and Jahlil Okafor to replace his offensive production. To replace Rondo they signed PG Elfrid Payton. Okafor and Payton are on their 3^rd team and both are under 25 busts based on their high draft positions even if those expectations were too high anyways. They also have scrapheap players in forwards Solomon Hill and Troy Williams, Wesley Johnson, guards Ian Clark and E’Twuan Moore as role players, these are not the kind of moves so make your superstar want to stick around. His two best teammates on this roster are PG Jrue Holiday and F Nikola Mirotic who both have their own limitations or health issues. This team will be fighting for one of the last three playoff spots since they have Davis but the West is too difficult to make it with just one player. How can the San Antonio Spurs be the same team without Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili and Khawi Leonard? Parker left for Charlotte, they traded Leonard to the Raptors and Ginobili retired. Their best players are 38 year old Pau Gasol who is a PF but has to play center since 33 year old LaMarcus Aldridge is under contract for four more years and they brought back 32 year old F Rudy Gay plus they got G DeMar DeRozan in return for Leonard. 

This might be the greatest test for supposedly the best coach in the NBA since his hall of fame core is gone and his team is full of players exiting their prime or in their prime. Plus he lost his first round pick Lonnie Walker to a meniscus tear and his young exciting PG Dejounte Murray also just tore his ACL which means his season is probably over. They still have PG Patty Mills to start and have F Marco Belinelli to come off the bench but they will miss not just Leonard’s defense but also Danny Green’s three point shooting and defense. They will be a competitive team based on their starting lineup but in the strong West they might actually miss the playoffs for the 1^st time in 21 years. The Memphis Grizzlies still have two All-Stars on their team but again will PG Mike Conley get hurt again since he missed most of the season due an Achilles injury and a surgery to smooth a small bone protrusion in his left heel. While C Marc Gasol had battles with the head coach which led to a new coach this year but also they drafted a center in Jaren Jackson Jr with the 4^th pick in the draft to replace him.

They should look to trade both as they should be in a total rebuild after finishing 14^th in the West, so with Jackson and a nice young forward they poached from the divisional rival Spurs in Kyle Anderson it’s a nice start but they should go all in. They should try to get someone to take F Chandler Parson’s huge contract so Anderson can get those minutes and PG Mario Chalmers to a contender needing a backup PG. If you didn’t know, guards Garret Temple, Marquis Teague, Shelvin Mack and F Omri Casspi are also on this roster which sums up another losing season if you have them on their roster. The Dallas Mavericks are building a nice young core around last year’s 1^st round pick PG Dennis Smith Jr and this year’s first round pick F Luka Doncic a decorated player in the Euro-Leauge with an MVP award and won the championship this year. Also they finally got center DeAndre Jordan after failing to get him three summers ago after he verbally agreed to a deal but the whole Clippers players locking doors incident happened and he stayed in LA. Now if they got him a few years ago when he was 27 along with those two young players and F Harrison Barnes they would be in championship contenders with future hall of famer F Dirk Nowitzki. 

Getting him now is an accomplishment after failing to get him but he 30, Dirk is 40 and G Wesley Matthews is 31 so those guys are on the wrong end of their careers to compete for a championship with those three young players. Plus they have great backups in guards Devin Harris and JJ Barea and it looks like F Dwight Powell who is in entering his 5^th season will start over Dirk. They might finish better then the Grizzlies if Memphis trades their veterans since this team is going to be a lot better than their record last year due to their talent. 

Northwest Division: The Oklahoma City Thunder are the only team in this division that is a lock to make the playoffs as a top 6 seed since they have PG Russell Westbrook and SFPaul George which means they have two All Stars which is more than most teams in the West. They even made the playoffs with just Westbrook two years ago.

They realized the Melo experiment didn’t work so they dumped his salary to Atlanta who also wanted to dump a player’s contract in PG Dennis Schroder who we all saw isn’t a starter but will compete for 6^th man of the year. They hope to get G Andre Roberson back healthy to pair with C Steven Adams to have a great defensive starting lineup. They also added C Nerlens Noel and F Abdel Nader to bolster the bench that has G Raymond Felton and forwards Patrick Patterson and Jerami Grant. The Minnesota Timberwolves if they have G Jimmy Butler all year they can be a top 5 seed since they were the 4^th seed until he got hurt and barley made the playoffs last year.

If they trade him they will fall out of the playoff race since F Andrew Wiggins and C Karl Anthony Towns both didn’t player well last year but only Towns has had good seasons so they hope he return to form. They also still have former All Stars in PGs Jeff Teauge and Derrick Rose but will the GM tell head coach Tom Thibodeau to stop getting former Bulls players it’s not 2008 ok. He has PF Taj Gibson to go with Rose, Butler and they even added F Luol Deng. Not be confused with their young big man Gorgui Dieng and they also have a 3^rd PG in Tyus Jones who is only 22 years old that should be playing over Rose who isn’t good anymore.  The West is too deep for this young team that is full of former Bulls for them to make the playoffs if Jimmy finally gets traded. The Utah Jazz have a nice young core of G Donovan Mitchell and C Rudy Gobert but beware of the sophomore slump for Mitchell.

This team has lots of good role players in PF Derrick Favors, PG Ricky Rubio, forwards Thabo Sefolosha, Joe Ingles, Jae Crowder, guards Alec Burks and Dante Exum. They also drafted G Grayson Allen who had a good college career at Duke. This team is talented/deep enough to compete for the 5^th seed but is team nowhere near the top two teams in the West. The Portland Trailblazers finished with the 3^rd seed but got upset in the playoffs by Anthony Davis and the math in the NBA now is the more All Star players the better chance you have to win. They like the Wizards have a great backcourt in guards Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum but should have traded one of them for a better frontcourt player since both of them are 6’3 so it’s an undersized backcourt.

They have a good center in Jusuf Nurkic but they are weak at forward even with them bring back Al-Farouq Aminu who they took away from Houston and will play PF when he is a SF. They also have too many below average NBA players on this team like G Seth Curry, forwards Maurice Harkless, Evan Turner, C Meyers Leonard, and G Nik Stauskas competing for minutes. They might miss the playoffs in the strong West because of the lack of good forwards they have leading to Lillad wanting to be traded because he deserves better. The Denver Nuggets just missed the playoffs by one game but this year they are making the playoffs based on their young talent and by getting former All Star/a top 5 finisher in the MVP race two years ago PG Isaiah Thomas.

Another year of development for C Nikola Jokic, guards Jamal Murray and Gary Harris along with a healthy season of former All Star PF Paul Millsap and now Thomas they have enough talent to overtake Portland, San Antonio, and Minnesota if Butler is traded. They also still have G Will Barton, C Mason Plumlee, PF Trey Lyles and when 1^st round pick SF Michael Porter Jr returns from injury this will be a team you don’t want to face in the playoffs.